Rail transport in New Zealand

Rail transport in New Zealand
Two KiwiRail DC class locomotives hauling the TranzAlpine passenger train on the Midland line between Christchurch and Greymouth in the South Island
Operation
National railway	KiwiRail
Infrastructure company	KiwiRail Network Taieri Gorge Railway Heritage operators
Major operators	Tranz Scenic (part of KiwiRail) Tranz Metro (part of KiwiRail) Veolia Taieri Gorge Railway
Statistics
Ridership	11.243m passengers per annum (Tranz Metro) 0.419m passengers per annum (Tranz Scenic)
Freight	15.7 million tonnes (2010 - 2011) 4.178 million net tonne kilometres (2010 - 2011)
System length
Total	4,128 km (2,565 mi)
Double track	252 km (157 mi)
Electrified	506 km (314 mi)
Freight only	2,328 km (1,447 mi)
Gauge
Main	1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in)
1067 mm	3,898 km (2,422 mi)
Electrification
Main	25kV AC
25kV AC	411 km (255 mi)
1500V DC	95 km (59 mi)
Features
No. tunnels	150
Tunnel length	80 km (50 mi)
Longest tunnel	Freight Kaimai tunnel 8,879 m (29,131 ft) Passenger Rimutaka tunnel 8,798 m (28,865 ft)
No. bridges	1787
Longest bridge	Freight Rakaia river bridge 1,743 m (5,719 ft) Passenger Waiau river bridge 700 m (2,300 ft)
Highest elevation	832 m (2,730 ft)
at	Pokaka, North Island Main Trunk
Map

Rail transport
Operations
Track
Maintenance
High-speed
Gauge
Stations
Trains
Locomotives
Rolling stock
Railways
History
Attractions
Terminology
By country
Accidents
Modelling

New Zealand
Locomotives
Lines
Jargon
Preservation
Transport

Rail transport in New Zealand consists of a network of 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) gauge (Cape gauge) railway lines in both the North and South Islands. Rail services are focused primarily on freight, particularly bulk freight, with limited passenger services on some lines. Only Auckland and Wellington have urban rail systems, both of which are being upgraded and expanded.

History

The railway network was initially constructed by the provincial governments of New Zealand from 1863 onwards. New Zealand's first public railway was opened in that year at Ferrymead by the Canterbury Province. The first steam-powered railway operated between Christchurch and Ferrymead.

Provincial period

The Canterbury Provincial Railways were built to the broad gauge of 5 ft 3 in (1,600 mm). On 5 February 1867, Southland Province opened a branch from Invercargill to Bluff to the international standard gauge of 4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in (1,435 mm). From 1870, the central government of Sir Julius Vogel proposed infrastructure including railway development, to be funded by overseas loans of £10 million. The central government also adopted a national gauge of 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in). The first narrow-gauge line was opened on 1 January 1873 in the Otago Province, the Port Chalmers Branch under the auspices of the Dunedin and Port Chalmers Railway Company Limited. Auckland's first railway, between Auckland and Onehunga, opened in 1873. Vogel also arranged for Brogdens of England to undertake several rail construction contracts, to be built by "Brogden's Navvies" recruited in England.

Central Government control

Following the abolition of the provinces in 1876, the lines were controlled by the central government, originally under the Public Works Department, and from 1880 under the New Zealand Railways Department. A few private companies built railways in New Zealand - the New Zealand Midland Railway Company, Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, Waimea Plains Railway, and Thames Valley and Rotorua Railway Company. Only the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company, nationalised in 1908, achieved any measure of success, with the rest being purchased by the Government before completion of their intended railway lines.

The first major route was completed between Christchurch and Dunedin in 1878, later extended to Invercargill the following year. The North Island Main Trunk, linking capital city Wellington with largest city Auckland, opened in 1908 after 23 years of construction. At the network's peak in the 1950s, about 100 branch lines were operating. Large-scale closures of branch railway lines began in the 1960s and 1970s. The network was initially protected from road transport competition under the Transport Licensing Act 1931, but this protection was gradually eased until its total abolition in 1983, along with the deregulation of the land transport industry.

The networks of the North and South Islands were independent of one another until the introduction of the inter-island roll-on roll-off rail ferry service in 1962 by the Railways Department, now branded The Interislander.

Corporatised and private ownership

For most of their history, New Zealand's railways were administered by the New Zealand Railways Department, with the Minister of Railways being a member of Cabinet. In 1982, the Railways Department was corporatised into a new entity required to make a profit, the New Zealand Railways Corporation. In 1990, the core rail operations of the Corporation were transferred to New Zealand Rail Limited, a state owned enterprise, with the Corporation retaining non-core assets which were gradually disposed of, apart from a significant land portfolio (due to Treaty of Waitangi claims) which it continued to manage. New Zealand Rail Limited was privatised in 1993, with the new owners adopting the name Tranz Rail in 1995.

During the period of private ownership of the network, Tranz Rail was widely accused of diverting freight to its trucks and forcing other freight off the rails. It was also accused of deliberately running down some lines through lack of maintenance. The Midland Line, which mostly carries coal from the West Coast to Lyttelton, was assessed to be in a safe but poor state by the LTSA government safety body in 2003, and has needed major repairs.

One of the reasons often cited for these policies was the cost of using road transport was less than using rail, because the road infrastructure was provided as a public good, whereas the rail network was a private good. Tranz Rail was also alleged to have denied reasonable access to the rail network by heritage operators, who were faced with a lack of access to certification resources and high charges that made their operations marginally economic at best. In recent years heritage groups have also faced increased bureaucratic requirements in the arena of safety certification, as well as problems obtaining suitable public liability insurance.

The government purchased the Auckland metropolitan rail network from Tranz Rail for $81 million in 2002. Tranz Rail retained slots for freight trains, and the Auckland Regional Council was granted slots for it to tender the operation of suburban passenger trains. Auckland railway stations not already local authority owned were transferred to Auckland Regional Transport Network Limited (ARTNL), owned by the Auckland territorial authorities, which was merged with the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA), a subsidiary of the Auckland Regional Council (ARC).

Renationalisation

In 2003 shares in Tranz Rail dropped to a record low price on the New Zealand sharemarket as a result of its poor financial state. The government then considered various schemes for bailing it out in return for regaining control of the rail infrastructure. Cited reasons included moving freight traffic from road to rail and ensuring access to the tracks for all interested parties. Toll Holdings of Australia made a successful takeover bid for Tranz Rail, subject to an agreement to sell back the infrastructure to the government for $1. This transaction took place in July 2004. The government committed to $200 million of taxpayer funding on deferred maintenance and capital improvements via a new subsidiary of the New Zealand Railways Corporation, ONTRACK. ONTRACK was then to negotiate rail access fees with the new company, Toll NZ, but these negotiations eventually fell into arbitration at the start of 2008.

In May 2008 the government successfully concluded negotiations for the purchase from Toll of its rail and ferry assets, for NZ$690 million from 1 July 2008. The name of the new organisation created to operate services on the rail network was revealed to be KiwiRail at a handover ceremony on that day.

The company has since drafted a 10-year turnaround plan for the rail industry, and two of KiwiRail's major customers, Mainfreight and Fonterra, are also investing heavily in rail-related infrastructure. Mainfreight has allocated $60 million for investment in new railhead depots, while Fonterra has invested $130m new rail hub complex in Hamilton and another planned for Mosgiel.

Accidents

Main article: List of rail accidents in New Zealand

New Zealand's most serious rail disaster occurred on Christmas Eve 1953, during the visit of Queen Elizabeth II, when a lahar washed away the bridge at Tangiwai. 151 lives were lost when the bridge collapsed as a Wellington-Auckland express passenger train was crossing it.

Infrastructure

Network ownership

Ownership of the national rail network is vested KiwiRail Network, formerly known as ONTRACK, a division of the New Zealand Railways Corporation. KiwiRail Network owns and maintains the rail infrastructure, and is responsible for the control of the network (i.e. train control and signalling).

The primary operator is KiwiRail, a separate Railways Corporation division. KiwiRail operates freight services (KiwiRail Freight), long distance passenger services (Tranz Scenic), and suburban services in Wellington (under the subsidiary Tranz Metro). Other rail operating companies include Veolia, who operates suburban services in Auckland, and Taieri Gorge Railway, who operates tourist trains around Dunedin.

Track

The New Zealand rail network has around 4,128 kilometres (2,565 mi) of line, of which about 506 kilometres (314 mi) is electrified. At the network's peak in 1953, some 5,689 kilometres (3,535 mi) of line was open. There are currently 1787 bridges and 150 tunnels (totalling 80 km in length) on the rail network.

The entire network is built to the 1,067 mm (3 ft 6 in) Cape gauge, chosen due to the need to cross mountainous terrain in the country's interior and the lower cost of construction. Difficult terrain meant that some lines took years to complete, and has necessitated a number of complicated engineering feats, notably the Raurimu Spiral and Rimutaka Incline (no longer in use).

The network has been the subject of major upgrading works on a number of occasions. The most major of these were the Tawa Flat deviation in Wellington, opened 19 June 1937; the Rimutaka deviation to the Wairarapa, 3 November 1955; and the Kaimai deviation in the Bay of Plenty, 12 September 1978. All of these involved major tunnelling works, of close to 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) each in the two latter cases. Significant infrastructure improvements were also carried out on the North Island Main Trunk in the mid 1980s, some as part of the electrification scheme.

Current major projects include electrification of the Auckland suburban network, and a proposed rail link to a deep sea port at Marsden Point. As part of a major capital injection announced in 2010, a number of regional lines are under threat of closure:

• All lines that form part of the North Auckland Line in Northland;
• The Stratford–Okahukura Line in Taranaki; (mothballed since 2009)
• The northern portion of the Wairarapa Line;
• The Gisborne - Napier section of the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line.

As part of KiwiRail's 10 year long-term plan, most new capital will be spent on locomotives, wagons and the Auckland - Wellington - Christchurch freight corridor. Decisions on regional lines will be made in 2012.

See also: List of New Zealand railway lines and Tunnels in New Zealand

Motive power

Main article: Locomotives of New Zealand

From its inception until the 1950s, steam locomotives were the main motive power on New Zealand's railways. Three sections of line were electrified at 1500V DC - Arthur's Pass to Otira (electrified 1923), Christchurch to Lyttelton (1929), and the Wellington suburban network (1938–40, 1953–55), of which only Wellington's system exists today.

Dieselisation began in the late 1940s with shunting engines. The first mainline locomotives, the English Electric DF class, was introduced in 1954, but it wasn't until the introduction of the DA class the following year that steam began to be seriously displaced. The last steam locomotive to be built by NZR, J^A 1274, was turned out in December 1956, and by 1967, steam had all but disappeared from the North Island. Steam remained in the South Island until 16 November 1971, when the last seven J^A locomotives that worked the Main South Line were withdrawn from revenue service.

In 1988 25 kV AC electrification of the North Island Main Trunk between Palmerston North and Hamilton was commissioned. Since 1983 a small number of privately owned steam and diesel locomotives have been permitted to operate special trains.

The Norwegian coupling was the standard coupler used in New Zealand for non-passenger rolling stock and locomotives until recently. AAR couplers have been progressively introduced, especially with newer rolling stock and rebuilt locomotives.

Operations

Freight

The freight marshaling yard in Dunedin

An EF class locomotive in the Tranz Rail "bumble-bee" livery hauling container wagons on the North Island Main Trunk

Two DX class locomotives hauling a 1600-tonne coal train on the Midland Line

A Picton-bound TranzCoastal service departing Christchurch station

A Veolia-operated ADL class DMU at Britomart Transport Centre in Auckland

A Tranz Metro EM/ET class EMU at Epuni

A J^A class locomotive on an excursion. Photo by Joseph Christianson

Freight provides the overwhelming majority of revenue traffic, largely bulk traffic, with general freight being largely restricted to containerised and palletised products. Major bulk freight includes coal, lime, steel, wood and wood products, paper pulp, milk, cars, fertiliser, grain and shipping containers. Freight operations are carried out by KiwiRail.

Most freight services are geared towards export industries, with most services emphasising capacity. For example, coal services on the Midland line, headed by two class DX locomotives, generally consist of 30 coal hopper wagons with a total capacity of 1,600 tonnes. In the 2006 - 2007 financial year, 2.9 million tonnes of coal were carried by rail. In the ten months to May 2009, KiwiRail moved 729 million litres of milk by rail from Oringi in the southern Hawke's Bay through Palmerston North for processing in Hawera, south Taranaki.

The previous record for milk volumes was set in the 2000 - 2001 season when 700 million litres were moved. In 2008, 625 million litres were carried along the same route.

The former rail operator Tranz Rail had been accused of forcing freight onto the roads. In 2002, Tranz Rail introduced a controversial containerisation scheme that assumed that most freight would be carried in containers on unit trains made up of fixed consists of flat deck wagons. Container loading depots were constructed at the major freight terminals. As a result, the government has required minimum level of freight tonnages for Toll to keep its monopoly freight rights on most lines, since renationalising the rail network from Tranz Rail in 2003.

Freight levels have returned to the level that they were at when the railway had a virtual monopoly, prior to 1983. In 1980 11.8 million tonnes of freight was moved by rail, in 1994 this had decreased to 9.4 million tonnes. By 1999 tonnes carried had increased to 12.9 million tonnes, slightly more than the 1975 peak. In the 2006 - 2007 financial year, 13.7 million tonnes of freight were carried. This equated to 3.96 million net tonne kilometres (or the amount of tonnes of traffic gained in 2008 - 2009 compared to the amount of traffic hauled in the 2006 - 2007 year) in the 2008 - 2009 financial year, about 15% of the total freight market.

After the 1983 land transport deregulation there was substantial rationalisation of freight facilities; many stations and smaller yards were closed and freight train services were sped up, increased in length and made heavier, with the removal of guard's vans in 1987 and the gradual elimination of older rolling stock, particularly four-wheeled wagons.

In recent years the amount of freight moved by rail has increased substantially, and started to gain market share in non-bulk areas as well. Freight on the North Island Main Trunk line between Auckland and Palmerston North saw an increase of 39% in freight volumes between 2006 and 2007. The five daily trains on the 667 km line reduced truck volumes on the route by around 120 per day. In 2008, the government proposed to spend $150m to enlarge tunnels for the bigger ISO containers now operating.

A 2008 study by the Ministry of Transport predicted that by 2031 rail freight volumes would increase to 23 million tonnes per annum, or 70% on the 2006 - 2007 financial year.

Long-distance passenger services

In the heyday of passenger rail in the 1950s and 1960s most provincial routes had railcar and locomotive-hauled passenger services. In 1965, 25 million passengers traveled by rail, by 1998 this had decreased to 11.7 million. Today now there are only four long-distance routes: the Overlander between Auckland and Wellington (which was to be withdrawn in September 2006, but continues on a reduced timetable), the Capital Connection between Wellington and Palmerston North, the TranzCoastal between Picton and Christchurch, and the TranzAlpine between Christchurch and Greymouth. Long-distance passenger services are operated by Tranz Scenic, a part of KiwiRail. The Wairarapa Connection is sometimes regarded as a long-distance service but is run by Wellington's commuter rail operator, Tranz Metro, also part of KiwiRail.

A number of services came to an end in the early 2000s: the Kaimai Express to Tauranga, the Geyserland Express to Rotorua, and the Bay Express to Napier all ceased in 2001; The Southerner from Christchurch, through Dunedin to Invercargill in 2002—and The Northerner night service between Auckland and Wellington in 2004.

Suburban passenger services

Both Auckland and Wellington have suburban passenger services. Christchurch and Dunedin formerly had suburban services, but they were withdrawn due to a lack of patronage. KiwiRail owns Tranz Metro, which operates suburban passenger services in the Wellington region. There are five lines, all electrified except for the Upper Hutt to Masterton services (the Wairarapa Connection). Tranz Metro uses EMUs, and diesel locomotives on non-electrified services. In the 1930s Wellington was the second city (after Christchurch) to have electric suburban trains, and today it is the only city with them. Wellington is regarded as having the best passenger train system in New Zealand.

For nine years Tranz Metro also operated the suburban trains in Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand. However, in mid-2004 Connex (now Veolia New Zealand) won the contract to run them - Tranz Metro did not tender. There are four lines: the Southern Line, Eastern Line, Western Line and Onehunga Line. All trains are diesel-operated, using both DMUs and locomotive-hauled push-pull trains. Currently, there is a programme to build new lines, reopen old lines (such as the Onehunga Branch, reopened September 2010) and electrify existing lines to improve the quality and frequency of services. Most Auckland rolling stock is owned and all services are funded by the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA).

Heritage passenger services

Four heritage rail operators, the Railway Enthusiasts Society, Steam Incorporated, Mainline Steam Trust and the Otago Excursion Train Trust, own and operate their own carriage and mainline-certified steam or diesel locomotive fleets. These groups have operated special excursion trains on the national network since 1978, and have been allowed to use suitable locomotives to haul these trains since 1983. A small number of other groups have overhauled their own locomotives for main-line use with either heritage or public passenger carriages.

Workshops

The New Zealand Railways Department had major workshops at Addington (Christchurch), Easttown (Wanganui), Hillside (Dunedin), Petone (Lower Hutt, near Wellington) then Hutt (Lower Hutt, near Wellington) and Newmarket then Otahuhu, (Auckland). Only Hutt and Hillside are still operating.

Heritage and museum railways

Main article: Railway preservation in New Zealand

About 60 groups operate rail heritage lines or museums. Almost all are members of the Federation of Rail Organisations of New Zealand, and they include street tramways and bush tramways as well as railways. Large-scale rail preservation in New Zealand got underway in the 1960s when many steam locomotives were withdrawn and branch lines closed.

Rail museums in New Zealand usually focus on storage and displays of rolling stock with a short line of around 1 km in length on which trains are operated. This covers most of the historic rail groups in New Zealand. A smaller number of lines are operated as heritage railways, usually on a closed section of a former national network branch line. Typically these lines are longer, usually 5 km or more, and most of their activities are focused on train operations with less emphasis on display and storage.

Current operations of the heritage railway type include the Glenbrook Vintage Railway, Bush Tramway Club, Waitara Railway Preservation Society, Weka Pass Railway, and Taieri Gorge Railway. The Taieri Gorge Railway, which is a Local Authority Trading Enterprise of the Dunedin City Council, is 60 km in length, making it the most ambitious project of its type to date. All other lines are operated by voluntary societies. The Weka Pass Railway at 13 km is the most lengthy of these. The Bay of Islands Vintage Railway is 11 km in length, but is in poor condition; having operated its first trains through Kawakawa since operations ceased in 2000 for two weeks from 3 July 2007, the Society is now working on rehabilitating the track between Kawakawa and Opua.

See also

• KiwiRail
• List of New Zealand railway museums and heritage lines
• ONTRACK
• Public transport in New Zealand
• Rail privatisation in New Zealand
• Toll NZ
• Trams in New Zealand
• Transport in New Zealand
• Tranz Metro
• Tranz Scenic
• Tunnels in New Zealand, section on Rail Tunnels
• Veolia (New Zealand)

External links

• Railway Stations from NZ History online (with Media Gallery)
• Rail Tourism from NZ History online (with Media Gallery)
• New Zealand Railways Magazine at the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre
• Regulation of Rail Transport in New Zealand
• Railways Act 2005