Latest news with #KiwiRail
RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
KiwiRail staff 'overworked' when machine derailed in Auckland, TAIC says
File pic Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone KiwiRail staff were "overworked and under supported" when a railway maintenance machine derailed at an Auckland tunnel, the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) says. Three linked tamper machines came off the rails in Purewa Tunnel shortly after midnight on 9 November, 2023 after a section of track had been removed. A tamper is a railway maintenance machine that lifts and aligns track while compacting the ballast beneath the sleepers, to create a smoother path for trains. None of the crew or any track workers were injured, but the machine was badly damaged. The TAIC report, released on Friday, explained how train controllers and track officers were kept in the dark about a gap in the railway. The train controller, the worksite's rail protection officer for the worksite and four train crew members were all unaware of the report said the driver of the lead machine saw the missing rails but could not stop in time. "[The tamper] was unable to stop before driving off the end of the track and into ballast, where it travelled for 16.4 metres before stopping. The rear two machines were able to stop and remain on the track." Staff aware of the missing track did not properly communicate it to key personnel. "Safety-critical information about the removal of the track within the project area was not provided to the track protection team because the key staff who were responsible were absent," the report said. "Key staff were unsupported while working in safety-critical roles and had very high work volumes." In a statement, TAIC acting chief investigator of accidents Louise Cook said the accident was preventable. "There were no engineering protections in place - nothing automatic to stop a train or to warn that rails weren't in place. Engineering controls are more reliable than rules and procedures that govern human behaviour. "We've recommended KiwiRail require such protections wherever tracks are impassable - like in the Purewa Tunnel that night, where the track had been removed for repairs. "Authorisation for the rail movement relied on people applying rules and procedures. But those failed because safety-critical staff were overworked, and the people who knew the track was gone were unavailable and hadn't communicated crucial information." The commission recommended KiwiRail review and improve its process for authorising rail movements within worksites to ensure the safe movement of all rail traffic and personnel within protected work areas. The recommendations included the "verification of track integrity and the sharing of and access to safety-critical information". KiwiRail has also been called to review and improve its rules and procedures relating to track maintenance work. Lastly, it was being asked to review its national project management structure to ensure there was sufficient oversight of and ongoing support for all project staff. KiwiRail accepted all of the commission's recommendations. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Scoop
3 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
TRAC Applauds Minister For Ignoring Treasury Advice
TRAC applauds the Minister of Rail, Winston Peters for standing up to Treasury's blinkered anti-rail view. Treasury appears to be colluding with the road transport industry in some theoretical belief that road transport is cheap, and, therefore, good for the New Zealand economy. Gareth Dennis, a UK rail engineer and rail advocate says in his book, 'How the Railways Will Fix the Future', '…two strips steel rail, - remain our most powerful yet under utilised tool for societal transformation.' Dennis goes on to say, that there are achievable goals of increasing rail's share of passenger transport to 25% and freight to 40%. TRAC national coordinator, Niall Robertson says, 'Currently, the so-called cheap road transport vehicles weighing over 3.5 tonnes which cause 93% of all road damage pay just 14% of the cost of building and maintaining roads, and get boosts of $4b for pothole repairs and $5b for resurfacing work'. Robertson adds that most Roads of National Significance have benefit cost ratios of about 21c which is very low. Robertson says, 'This is technically a significant loss in transport investment'. TRAC chair, Guy Wellwood feels that Treasury has a myopic, short term view of what is economically good for the country and just look at what is cheap in the short term with little thought for the long term value to the economy. Wellwood says, 'There was a time when New Zealand needed to change its economy to a liberal free market one, but things have changed in the last forty years'. Robertson says, 'We now have an economic system that frets about the 'fiscal deficit', but this is to the detriment of the infrastructure and social deficits which are chronically ignored.' Robertson adds that this short term approach has meant that New Zealand's productivity is continuing to go backwards and wages and salaries are getting lower by world standards'. Wellwood says New Zealand needs to lift its game. He says, 'Rail infrastructure is cheaper than roading infrastructure and a railway from Levin directly to Marton via Foxton and Greatfod would cost $950m with a BCA of $1.57, which compares with the Otaki to north of Levin motorway at a cost of $1.5b with a BCA of just 21c!' Rail should be moving 40% of the freight task, but is doing barely 10% currently. That is fine for treasury as KiwiRail in their trimmed down form offer the Treasury a reasonable return as an SOE, but Robertson says, 'There needs to be a rethink of land transport funding, starting with the removal of the below wheel infrastructure from KiwiRail and that part of the industry be funded through the National Land Transport Fund (NLTF), then offering open access to other railway organisations to offer services that KiwiRail can't or won't offer such as a line to Gisborne'. There is a list of bouquets for rail which are brickbats for road transport that will incentivise motorists to prefer more funding to go to rail and these include; road safety, road congestion, road damage, CO2 emissions, road particulate matter from tyres, brakes and road dust that pollute the air, waterways and oceans, small land footprint as rail can move people and freight using a lot less land, improved green credentials with our trading partners and the fact the 30% of the population require public transport as they are young, elderly, disabled or on low incomes'. Gareth Dennis who regularly speaks on sustainable transport matters, skills and strategy, as well as more specialist engineering subjects and makes a compelling case that railways, 'are capable of carrying tens of thousands of people per hour or tens of millions of tonnes of freight per year on just two strips steel rail'. Robertson adds, 'More road safety, less congestion, smaller road bills, less pollution, better land utilisation, greater green standing with our trading partners and more transport equity and connectivity'. Dennis says, 'Rail is both the past and the future of mass transit. Anyone who suggests otherwise probably doesn't have your best interests at heart'. Dennis also says that we need to,'…counter those generous party donations from the roading lobbies and the trucking companies and put pressure on the Treasury away from short-termism in financial planning'. The Minister of Rail appears to have a profound and insightful grasp of these flaws and has made a very nuanced decision in the interests of the New Zealand people to buy rail enabled ferries.
RNZ News
3 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
Auckland rail disruptions expected until Christmas, KiwiRail admits
Many rail services are being replaced by buses. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone Aucklanders can expect rail closures and disruptions up until Christmas, KiwiRail admits, as final preparations are made for the City Rail Link. The Southern Line will be closed between Otahuhu and Pukekohe from 28 June to 13 July, many services replaced by buses. "We will have trains running on the other lines during the break, other than for a couple of days just before the end," KiwiRail's chief capital planning and asset development officer David Gordon told Morning Report . "Originally we had permission to shut all the lines but we don't need to do that, we just need to do the heavy invasive work on that section of line." He acknowledged the work would be disruptive for many commuters. "A lot of people are going to be affected, there's no doubt about it, and we don't take lightly the decision to do the closures," he said. "It is disruptive for people; they don't want to get on a bus, they want to get on a train. We wouldn't be doing this unless it was regarded by us and by parties on all sides in terms of funding and support [to be] necessary to do the type of work we're doing, which realistically should have been done over the past twenty years." Though there was light at the end of the tunnel, Gordon admitted this wouldn't be the last of the disruption in 2025. "This isn't it, but we're getting close to 'it'. Our objective is to have this scale of disruption totally over and done with by the end of Christmas," he promised. "Thereafter there will be shuts, etcetera, associated with testing City Rail Link but the scale of work we're doing [now] comes to an end before we open City Rail Link." He said the work being done was exhaustive. "The type of work we're doing at the moment should future-proof in those areas for 50 to 100 years. "We're digging right down to the foundations and some places we're having to dig out, swamps and stuff like that, we're doing about six metres deep," he said. "Of course rail will wear out on the top, but that's relatively easily fixed over a very short period. What we're doing is essentially digging up the foundations." That led to some unexpected discoveries, Gordon said. "We've found our fair share of gremlins. You never quite know what you're getting into when you dig these things out," he said. "But part of the reason why we've been so successful is you have to react, you have to have good people working for you, and you have to deal with what you find." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
5 days ago
- RNZ News
Interislander ferry Aratere to retire in August
Tourism operators aren't sure whether they'll welcome smooth sailing or face choppy waters once the Interislander service loses one of its ferries. The Aratere retires in August, reducing the Cook Strait fleet to two until the expected arrival of new ones in 2029. KiwiRail operates the service and is confident the remaining ferries can handle the demand. Tess Brunton reports. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
1News
18-06-2025
- Business
- 1News
Charges filed against KiwiRail over Aratere grounding
Maritime NZ has filed two charges against KiwiRail following an investigation into the grounding of Interislander ferry Aratere last year. The Aratere grounded just north of Picton on June 21 last year, with 47 people onboard at the time. No one was injured and the vessel was refloated two days afterwards, with damage to its bow that required repair. Maritime New Zealand's chief executive Kirstie Hewlett said the charges relate to failures by the operator to keep crew and passengers safe while onboard the ferry, under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. "This was a complex incident and important investigation given it focused on KiwiRail bringing in new systems to older vessels and broader safety management. ADVERTISEMENT "It required us to look at systems, policies and procedures, culture, within KiwiRail in relation to the incident." She said a "significant number of interviews were conducted" and a substantial amount of evidence collated. Three investigations are looking at what happened to the vessel when it hit the coastline near Picton. (Source: 1News) "The time taken to undertake this investigation, collate and review the evidence, and decide on compliance action is consistent with other complex and major incidents," she said. "As we have now filed charges in court, we cannot talk about what our investigation found," Hewlett said. In October last year, the Transport Accident Investigation Commission released an initial report into the incident, finding that less than three minutes passed between crew on the Aratere switching on autopilot and the ferry grounding. TAIC will release a final report with further analysis and any possible recommendations at a later date. ADVERTISEMENT Earlier this year, the Government announced the ferry would be retired by August 30 to make way for required Picton port redevelopment in preparation for the two brand-new Cook Strait ferries arriving in 2029. The grounding was just one of many incidents that have plagued the vessel in its 25 years of crossing the Cook Strait. Interislander responds In a statement, Interislander executive general manager Duncan Roy told 1News the company has "made improvements to our processes and systems to avoid an event like this happening again". Roy said an internal investigation carried out in the immediate aftermath of the incident led to nine recommendations – the majority of which have been implemented. "This includes a full review of training processes especially for critical equipment, and reviews of our contractor management and risk management procedures." Since returning to passenger sailings, the Aratere has made more than 1100 crossings of Cook Strait, carrying over 133,000 passengers and 64,000 private and commercial vehicles, Roy said. The vessel's reliability is at 98% this financial year. ADVERTISEMENT In 2024, Interislander brought in independent overseas assessors DNV to review its three ships and their maintenance. Roy said DNV found the ships were in good condition for their age and with the company's stringent maintenance regime, there was no systemic reason why they cannot continue sailing safely until 2029. The charges Charge 1: s48 charge - in that it had a duty as a PCBU, namely to ensure, so far as reasonably practicable, the health and safety of those passengers and crew who would sail aboard the Aratere and that failure exposed crew members and passengers to the risk of death or serious injury. Maximum penalty $1.5m Charge 2: s49 charge under HSWA - in that it had a duty as a PCBU, failed to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of those passengers and crew who would sail aboard the Aratere. Maximum penalty: $500,000
