The next stage of KiwiRail’s network rebuild in Auckland will be a lot less disruptive than the previous stages. Since the start of 2023, KiwiRail has had to fully close rail lines in Auckland for work to upgrade and prepare the metro rail network for the more frequent metro trains to come when the City Rail Link opens.
Auckland Transport’s Executive General Manager Public Transport Services Stacey van der Putten says the reduced disruption for Stage 3 will come as welcome news to Auckland’s rail passengers.
During the rebuild period, Western Line trains will run on a single track affecting service frequencies, and timetables will be confirmed in due course.
Details of alternative public transport options will be available on the AT website www.AT.govt.nz/RailRebuild
The reopening of the rail line to Napier – allowing rail freight to once again get to Napier Port – is an important step for the Hawke’s Bay cyclone recovery, KiwiRail Chief Executive Peter Reidy says. Scheduled freight services resumed Monday, September 18, following a seven month pause after the rail line was badly damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle.
Cargo that is typically carried by rail includes chilled and frozen meat, wood products such as logs, pulp and timber, food products and imported machinery and consumables used in manufacturing. Following the cyclone in February, KiwiRail reopened the Palmerston North – Gisborne Line to Hastings at the start of April. Temporary Container Terminal sites were also set up in partnership with Napier Port, transport operators and cargo customers so that freight could be railed to Hastings, then trucked to Napier.
The section of line between Hastings and Napier, particularly around Awatoto, was badly damaged in the cyclone, with track and embankments washed away, and major damage to Bridge 217, which lost piers and spans in the floods. The work included rebuilding two-metre-high embankments, replacing 800 sleepers, 140 metres of rail, laying 3,000 cubic metres of formation (the rock foundation under the tracks) and 3,500 tonnes of ballast.
KiwiRail also railed steel casings to Hastings from Christchurch for replacement bridge piers on Bridge 217 – which have been driven 30 metres into the riverbed. The rebuild of Bridge 217 is temporary, in order to get rail freight moving as quickly as possible. A permanent new bridge will be designed and built over the next couple of years.
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.
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 the local commuter rail network, and will work hard to deliver on the Government’s investment.
KiwiRail has leased an additional freight ferry to provide capacity and resilience on Cook Strait, KiwiRail Group Chief Executive Greg Miller announced today. The Valentine is completing technical due diligence in England now, ahead of sailing to New Zealand. It is due to arrive in mid-December and Interislander crews will familiarize themselves with the ship before Valentine begins working the Cook Strait, likely later in December.
Mr Miller said the Interislander fleet is aging and more prone to breakdown. “Old ships tend to have mechanical problems and this has been highlighted with the current mechanical issues on Aratere. While she has now resumed service, we know that disruption is bad for us and our customers.
The Valentine is being leased for an initial 12 months. Valentine has been working in the English Channel and is well-suited to KiwiRail operations.
Mr Miller says the move shows KiwiRail’s determination to support the movement of essential supplies in New Zealand through increased capacity, collaboration, and improving scheduling and resource planning.
KiwiRail and Auckland Transport are already making changes to address issues raised by a report into track damage through Rolling Contact Fatigue that led to widespread speed restrictions across the Auckland rail network.
The Auckland RCF Working Group Root Cause Assessment Report, prepared for KiwiRail and Auckland Transport, identified multiple causes, with historic underinvestment in Auckland’s rail track infrastructure identified as one of the key factors. The report also pointed to insufficient rail grinding, poor underlying track condition, the design of the EMU trains and the wheel rail interface. Auckland’s climate is also another likely contributor.
KiwiRail Chief Operating Officer Todd Moyle acknowledged the report’s findings, and said work was already well advanced to implement recommendations made in the report.
Todd Moyle says that 130km of rail was replaced in just seven months and KiwiRail is now working through the second phase to repair the more complex sections of track.
The track remediation work is part of a $1.5 billion programme of work to modernise and improve the Auckland metro rail network. Other projects include the ‘third main’ project to ease congestion and allow for extra services on the busiest part of the network between Westfield and Wiri, the extension of electrification to Pukekohe, and three new stations at Drury and Paerata. When complete, Auckland commuters and freight customers will enjoy a more resilient and reliable network.
KiwiRail and the Supporting Growth Alliance (Auckland Transport and Waka Kotahi) have today confirmed their proposed sites for three new stations in southern Auckland and will now begin more detailed consultation with stakeholders about their development.
Over the next 30 years, an extra 120,000 people are expected to live in the area, which will also have 40,000 new houses and 38,000 new jobs. The development of the new stations and their associated facilities will be staged over time to coincide with demands from developments feeding each location.
KiwiRail has been given funding through the Government’s NZ Upgrade Programme for the first phase of development.
The locations for the new stations are designed to maximise connections with future town centres, new housing, and other public transport routes.
The aim is ensure the wider area has a robust public transport system to enable long-term housing and business growth. Other factors considered included the existing railway track alignment, the distance between stations, and environmental and ecological features.
The fully developed stations will have a bus interchange and Park & Ride facilities along with other infrastructure. We are working to confirm the exact footprint which will be needed for the associated facilities for the fully developed stations and will then begin the process of protecting the land.
Waka Kotahi National Manager System Design Robyn Elston says: “We are focusing on how longer-term road and rail projects can give people more connected public transport choices and help them move around safely and easily. We’re looking forward to talking to communities about how to make these projects happen.”
The planned railway stations are part of the $2.39 billion of transport improvements in southern Auckland that Waka Kotahi and KiwiRail are delivering as part of the Government’s New Zealand Upgrade Programme.
Other improvements will include SH1 Papakura to Drury South, Mill Road and Papakura to Pukekohe rail electrification. They are part of a longer term transport network being investigated and delivered to support growth in south Auckland.
Public information sessions on the rail developments in Southern Auckland are being held in Drury on February 18th and Pukekohe on February 20th.
The proposed locations for the three stations are:
Drury Central will be located on the existing rail line south of Waihoehoe Road, between Flanagan and Great South Roads.
Drury West will be located on the existing rail line, about 450 m south of the existing intersection of SH22 / Karaka Road and Jesmond Road.
Paerata will be located on the existing rail line, adjacent to the planned eastern extent of the Paerata Rise development.
The re-opening of the rail line between Whangārei and Swanson in West Auckland is a significant achievement and has immediately boosted KiwiRail’s ability to deliver freight services for New Zealanders.
The track opened last week and today KiwiRail will begin receiving some of the containers unloaded from the ANL vessel Tianjin Bridge which berthed at Northport on Friday. These will be trucked to the rail line in Whangārei and taken to Auckland by train, while the rest of the containers will be moved south by road to their destination.
Fewer trucks on roads also means less congestion, lower road maintenance costs, and greater road safety.
It also means fewer emissions. Every tonne of freight carried by rail produces 70 per cent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than the equivalent freight carried by road.
The project to improve the North Auckland line, which was in a poor state after years of under-investment, began only a year ago. Funded by the Government’s Provincial Growth Fund, the work included replacing five bridges and lowering tracks in 13 tunnels in just seven months, to allow the passage of hi-cube shipping containers in and out of Northland by rail. These hi-cube containers are standard in international shipping.
All the new and rehabilitated structures have clearance through the tunnels for electrification to be added later, which helps to further improve the network’s resilience over time.
More than 400,000 hours went into the construction phase of the project, which marked its completion with the running of a test train last week carrying trial hi-cube export size containers. The train ran successfully along the length of the line, following an early morning blessing in Whangarei and by late last week, freight trains were again running.
KiwiRail does not yet have a spur directly to Northport but the PGF funding has allowed us to begin buying land along the route. In the meantime, freight is trucked from the port to the rail line in Whangārei, then carried by rail, south to Auckland and other destinations.
With freight volumes in the region expected to increase from 18 million tonnes a year currently to 23 million tonnes by 2042, rail is a crucial part of developing an efficient, integrated transport system for Northland. Across New Zealand, KiwiRail is working hard to support importers and exporters, and to increase its share of the freight market.
KiwiRail has named world-renowned Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) based in Ulsan, South Korea as its preferred shipyard to build the two new Interislander ferries.
KiwiRail Chief Executive Greg Miller said the decision to work with HMD was a significant step forward for the new Interislander project and the culmination of a robust, competitive, year-long selection process.
“Our ship procurement team and the evaluation panel, including naval architects, ship brokers and maritime lawyers, have undertaken a rigorous process to select the right shipyard and this announcement, on schedule, is a great end to the year for our team,” Mr Miller said.
“KiwiRail has specified a Makers’ List of components – predominantly American and European, including the engines, propulsion system and navigation system – to ensure the new ships will serve New Zealand well for the next 30 years.
“The two new ferries and the upgraded terminals in Waitohi Picton and Wellington are a major investment in the future of the Cook Strait freight and passenger services, with a significant taxpayer contribution. It’s crucial that we deliver the best outcome for New Zealand and for our passengers and customers and with the selection of HMD shipyard, I am confident we have achieved that.”
Once commissioned and built, the two new ferries will replace KiwiRail’s three ageing Interislander ferries,which are nearing the end of their working lives. KiwiRail operates around 3800 services a year, transporting about 850,000 passengers, 250,000 cars and up to $14 billion worth of freight, but with significant growth predicted.
New terminals and berths in Waitohi Picton and Wellington are planned to accommodate the new ferries and improve the Interislander service for customers and staff.
HMD is the world’s sixth-largest shipbuilder globally with decades of experience building complex ships, including HMNZS Aotearoa for NZDF.
It is over 20 years since New Zealand introduced a brand-new purpose-built ferry to its fleet. Once built, the two new ferries will be more efficient and support KiwiRail’s goal to reduce carbon emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 and be carbon neutral by 2050. The new ferries will be designed to use different energy sources through their life if these are available in New Zealand, and at day one will provide for battery operations when docking and plug into local power supply at each port.
The Government committed $400 million in Budget 2020 to the New Interislander project, building on a $35 million-dollar investment in Budget 2019.
Massimo Soprano, Ships Programme Manager at KiwiRail, said the selection process had been highly competitive with some of the best shipyards in the world putting in tenders for the contract.
Mr Miller said that despite the complexity and number of parties involved in the purchase of the two new ferries and the terminal upgrades in both Waitohi Picton and Wellington, things were progressing well with the new Interislander project.
A Letter of Intent (LOI) has now been signed with HMD. A LOI is a non-binding agreement that allows KiwiRail and HMD to progress to more detailed contract negotiations and is a normal step in the procurement process for large-scale ship building.
Infrastructure work across the Auckland metro rail network is set to ramp up over the Christmas period during a network wide shut down.
As Aucklanders head out of the city on holiday, work on several projects is scheduled across the network to take advantage of the quieter period.
KiwiRail Chief Operating Officer Todd Moyle says work will focus on track repairs.
“We’ll have more than 100 people working over the Christmas and New Year period across the network. Additionally, preliminary work on Papakura to Pukekohe electrification, the Westfield and Wiri junction and the construction of a third main will be getting underway.”
All of the projects are part of the Auckland Metro Rail Programme and once complete will deliver Auckland a resilient train infrastructure network for improved reliability of passenger train services provided by Auckland Transport and freight trains.
Earlier in the year, testing uncovered damage to more than 100km of track which required urgent upgrading.
“Our teams have put in a lot of hours and have already completed over 50 percent of the required work.
“The upgrade has been a massive task and KiwiRail has worked with Auckland Transport throughout the project to try to minimise the impact on commuters.”
The network shutdown will take place from Saturday 26 December to Sunday 10 January. During that period only freight trains will operate on the tracks.
Commuters on the Western line between Fruitvale Road and Swanson will need to prepare for a longer period of disruption, with work starting earlier, on December 20, and continuing along the entire Western Line until the end of January 2021.
“We have planned the repairs on the Western line to minimise the impact when the school year begins in February.”
“KiwiRail appreciates the level of cooperation and understanding from the public as this necessary work continues. The progress that will be made during the shutdown is an investment which will make the network more resilient and reduce future outages.”
AT Executive General Manager Integrated Networks Mark Lambert says “Once again AT wishes to acknowledge the disruption that these works have had on our customers. We will continue to provide Rail Replacement Bus services across the network throughout the shutdown, including New Year’s Eve, when many Aucklanders will be wanting to spend time with their friends and loved-ones.”
“The name Ruakanakana is associated with a pā site beside Lake Elterwater that was occupied by the renowned chief Te Rakaitauheke of the Ngāti Kurī hapū of Ngāi Tahu.
“The Main North Line runs alongside Lake Elterwater, around 10km north of the new overpass. Ruakanakana can be translated as “two-headed lamprey” which evokes images of a guardian taniwha.
“Traffic will be travelling on the new overpass next month. Construction work is close to completion, with the naming by iwi and blessing of the new overpass part of our final preparations.
“Vehicles have been using a temporary diversion through the area, while it was being built.
“The new road overpass is part of the work KiwiRail is doing to move a stretch of the Main North Line to bypass Tar Barrel tunnel, the oldest tunnel on the line.
“This work is needed to make the rail line more resilient and involves cutting through the hill to re-route the line to the south of the tunnel and beneath State Highway 1.”
The project is part of the Kaikoura Earthquake recovery works and will improve rail operations and seismic reliance for both road and rail.
KiwiRail is working with Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency to deliver these works, which are on track to be completed by mid-2021.
Waka Kotahi Director Regional Relationships Jim Harland thanked drivers through this site for taking care around road and rail crews while a more resilient link, particularly in the event of earthquakes, is completed for both road and rail.
