Establishing the Te Huia rail service is budgeted to cost $92 million (file photo).
A rail revival is underway with new passenger services and a turn around in staff morale putting the formerly struggling sector back on track. A positive culture change at KiwiRail is being partly credited for declining rates of train drivers being pinged for lax behaviour. KiwRail figures obtained under the Official Information Act show 14 locomotive engineers were disciplined or formally cautioned during the 12 months to June 30 – with only one case involving a Waikato driver. The figure represents an almost 50 per cent reduction from 2018-19 when 27 drivers were cautioned or disciplined for negligence or behaviour issues.
KiwiRail not the fix it answer to freight supply chain snarl up
23 Dec, 2020 04:25 AM
5 minutes to read
Frustrated freight chain players caught in the ports congestion snarl shouldn t look to taxpayer-owned KiwiRail to provide quick answers by the sounds of it. Bosses at Port of Tauranga, the country s biggest port, its main export gateway and a big user of rail, are asking where have all the trains gone? .
A month ago the port asked for 12 extra trains on the Tauranga-Auckland rail line as it tackles the problem of getting unscheduled import cargoes dropped off by ships avoiding Auckland s choked port back to Auckland - four have been provided.
Morning Report there had been changes made in the past three years but there were challenges. We ve updated signals, we ve put LED lights, we ve also put a number of train stops, but you ve got an incredibly complex network where you ve got three tracks going into nine stations and there s some elements that we aren t able to do just at the moment and that still causes some issues there.
He said there were short, medium and long-term plans to resolve them.
The tracks were too tight to put in train stops at some locations, he said, but it was unable to do it now.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) found the driver of the Hutt Valley train was distracted by a radio call and failed to stop.
The commission said it identified safety concerns at the station three years ago and raised these with KiwiRail.
It said KiwiRail should review its arrangements to try to reduce the risk by providing better communication between train drivers.
The commission said if these recommendations were not properly addressed, the risk to the transport system would remain.
In a statement, KiwiRail chief operating officer Todd Moyle said the incident was treated seriously and they accepted it was a significant one, despite no collision or injuries.