Changes made to avoid repeat of Wellington rail disruption

Links to documents relating to the EM80 incident are at the bottom of this page.

KiwiRail has welcomed the Government’s rapid review into its handling of disruptions to passenger services in Wellington earlier this year and has already moved to change its systems. 

“We are absolutely committed to providing a safe and reliable rail network for all commuters in both Wellington and Auckland,” says KiwiRail Chief Executive Peter Reidy. 

“Commuter rail is very important to New Zealand, particularly as the country seeks to reduce its carbon footprint. KiwiRail is focussed on supporting Metlink, Auckland Transport and the two metro rail operators (Transdev Wellington and Auckland One Rail) to run efficient services for commuters which will encourage more people off the roads and onto trains.

“As we said in May, we take full responsibility for what happened in Wellington. The TEC has been working for 41 years and this is the first time we have had issues like we did in Wellington.

“We look forward to working through the recommendations in the report released today.

“We have already made a number of changes within our business. These directly address specific failings that led to the TEC being unable to complete its required assessments of the Kāpiti Line in time and will help ensure its reliability in the years ahead.

”Mr Reidy says the Track Evaluation Car (TEC) is only one of a number of tools KiwiRail uses to regularly assess rail lines across the country.

“There were no safety issues with the Kāpiti Line – it was the equivalent of a Warrant of Fitness expiring. As a result, a 70km/h speed restriction had to be put in place on the line, which had consequences for how Metlink operated commuter services across the Wellington metro network. Within three days the TEC had completed its work on the Kāpiti Line, and no safety issues were found.

“It was primarily an issue scheduling the TEC inspection, and we have now rectified that issue.

“I was pleased to see the reviewers note that they were incredibly impressed by the overall calibre of people working in the railway in New Zealand, and their personal and professional drive to deliver better metropolitan services for the travelling public.

“I will continue to stress to all of my team that the two metro networks are of highest priority and that we must deliver for the many tens of thousands of rail commuters in Wellington and Auckland.

“I look forward to working together with Greater Wellington Regional Council and Auckland Transport as part of a collaborative, aligned governance group to deliver safe and reliable services for New Zealand’s metro customers.”

Improvements made include: 

• Use of the TEC to achieve network compliance is now part of a wider Infrastructure Integrated Plan, with a longer-term (12 month) plan around its use nationally. While there have been detailed operating plans for each area the TEC assesses, this change introduces a national level of oversight, linked into when track safety cases expire.
• Developing robust processes and procedures around the escalation, prioritisation and approvals required where the TEC schedule cannot be met. This is an important backup if it is looking unlikely the TEC will be able to carry out required work in time. The issues that resulted in the Wellington disruption were escalated too late for KiwiRail to take effective action to avoid the speed restriction being put on the Kāpiti Line.
• Developing better resilience around the TEC, through a review of the tasks needed to ensure its successful operation - including a review of existing staff resourcing and formalising training processes. This is to ensure the TEC is able to operate effectively.
• Reviewing the maintenance programme for the TEC. The TEC is 41 years old and will be replaced in FY2027. A procurement process for a new vehicle is well underway. The maintenance programme review, and any changes that come from it, will help ensure the TEC can continue operating reliably until the new vehicle arrives.

General Manager Metros Jon Knight says KiwiRail has made a huge commitment to commuter rail, working hard to deliver on the Government’s investment.

“We recognise the importance of managing the commuter networks that enable nearly 22 million commuter journeys to take place each year.

“More than $1.5 billion is being invested to improve the resilience of the track infrastructure across Auckland and on a range of new rail projects, and we understand how important reliability is for people to choose public transport. 

“We’re replacing aging track foundations across Auckland through our Rail Network Rebuild; building a Third Main Line to ease congestion on the busiest stretch of the network; extending the electrified section south to Pukekohe and building three new train stations in the growing, southern part of Auckland.

“In Wellington, there is an $800 million programme of works across the region designed to build a more reliable, modern and resilient railway which will allow for longer passenger trains and more of them.

“In addition to making capacity improvements in the Wellington metro network, such as double tracking between Trentham and Upper Hutt and building new platforms at Plimmerton, we are also significantly raising the standard of the Wairarapa Line, which will support more frequent, new hybrid trains.

“We have begun implementing a new infrastructure maintenance approach in the Auckland metro network that will be more proactive, use time-saving technology and be globally benchmarked. We intend to extend this approach to Wellington.