Taxpayers face having to pay an extra $200 million as part of the Government’s buy-back of the national rail service. The extra money - not publicised when the Government announced the deal last week - is a loan to former owner Toll New Zealand from its parent company in Australia. It is on top of the $665 million price agreed for the country’s rail and Cook Strait ferry services, which Finance Minister Michael Cullen has admitted will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to bring up to standard. But the Herald understands from a source close to the deal that the loan is part of Toll New Zealand’s liabilities, which the Government automatically takes over as part of the deal. He questioned the deal Dr Cullen had struck, saying Toll had retained the “lucrative” freight arm of the business while the Government had paid more than the rail business had been valued at previously. National is unhappy with the Government’s purchase of the rail service, but it has said it would not sell the assets in its first term should it win power at the next election because it has promised to conduct no asset sales in that period. read more