Auckland rail disruption: Train wheels probed as possible cause of damaged tracks

Tuesday, 15 September 2020

Transport Minister, Phil Twyford, on possible causes of Auckland's worn tracks.

The types of wheels on some trains could be to blame for extensive wear and damage to Auckland’s rail network, Transport Minister Phil Twyford says.

Experts looking at the possible cause of the damage, which will cost about $200 million worth to repair, will also examine the specifications of rails used, he said.

KiwiRail announced in August speed limits across the region would be halved for the repairs, which will last six months.

The state-owned company, which owns and maintains the track network, said high-tech ultrasonic testing had found the state of the tracks to be worse than previously thought.

KiwiRail track workers installing new rails on the Manukau Line.

* Auckland rail disruption: Poor state of city rail network will cost $200m to fix

* Auckland trains to run at half speed for six months due to urgent track repairs

Transport Minister Phil Twyford says experts will look into the cause of the damage. (File photo)

The accelerated repairs are the biggest disruption Auckland’s 190km urban rail network has faced since electrification work was completed for new Spanish-built commuter trains that entered service in 2013.

“We take safety extremely seriously,” Twyford said.

“We are also working really hard to understand how this happened – is it a technical thing, is it about the specifications of the track, or the wheels on the rolling stock?

“We have got expert advice being brought to bear to find out exactly how the situation happened, and how we prevent it from happening again.”

While Stuff understands the wheel profile of the electric commuter trains has been discussed as a possible contributor to damage, a report produced in 2019 focussed on inadequate track upkeep.

The work, by Opus for KiwiRail and Auckland Transport, identified long-term under-maintenance, ageing infrastructure such as sleepers and ballast, and an inability to keep up with increasing failures.

“Over the past five years only a small proportion of the [priority] faults were addressed within desirable timeframes,” the report said.

Commuter rail patronage has grown by 13 per cent a year over the past 12 years, with more frequent services and additional freight traffic, but maintenance has been “reactive” and not kept up, it said.

The first major disruptive repair has seen the Eastern Line completely closed initially for a fortnight, but then for an extra two weeks through to September 21.

Up to one quarter of the rails on the Auckland metropolitan network may need replacing due to serious wear and will be upgraded to heavier duty track.