Ferry Holdings' Chairman says he's more confident in the new Cook Strait ferry plans than the ditched iRex project. 

The Government's officially signed a fixed-price contract with a Chinese shipbuilder for two new rail-enabled ferries. 

It's now securing teams to build the required infrastructure at Picton and Wellington ports. 

Winston Peters claims the total cost will come in under two billion dollars and will be delivered on time in 2029. 

Ferry Holdings Chair Chris Mackenzie told Ryan Bridge the iRex project would have required a lot more work to be done on the ports. 

He says the new plans don't need much to be moved as it's re-using as much as possible from existing infrastructure. 

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