Auckland Rail: AT criticises KiwiRail repairs, calls for new board members

Wednesday, 28 July 2021

Frustration is rising at Auckland Transport (AT) over continued surprise disruptions from urgent track repairs, with the council agency telling KiwiRail “trust and confidence” in the rail network is suffering.

Separately, the chairs of AT and its Wellington regional council counterpart, have called for new skills to be added to state-owned KiwiRail’s board of directors, to beef up experience in rail and infrastructure.

In the latest urgent repair to worn tracks, passenger services on the southern line have been less frequent and travelling slower for six weeks, since KiwiRail found more worn rails needing replacement.

“This is deeply disappointing, and is having a significant detrimental impact on the trust and confidence in (both) the rail and public transport network,” wrote AT chief executive Shane Ellison to KiwiRail counterpart Greg Miller.

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Ellison also criticised the short notice from KiwiRail on the need for speed restrictions, with the disruption having a severe effect on southern public transport users who travel long distances with few alternatives.

He warned the hit that patronage was taking on rail, could be worth as much as $7 million over half a year, and could lead to cuts in other public transport services.

“At a time when Auckland Council and central government are investing more in rail as demonstrated by the opening of the Puhinui Interchange – we are very frustrated,” wrote Ellison.

Puhinui cost $69 million and provides a link between rail, and fast buses to the airport, but at the time of its opening in late July, was still being served by slowed and less frequent train services.

A week after Ellison’s July 7 letter, AT’s chair Adrienne Young-Cooper, and Daran Ponter, the chair of Greater Wellington Regional Council, wrote to Treasury about the skill mix on KiwiRail’s board.

The pair “strongly argued” for additional skills and experience to be added, noting there were three director vacancies.

Without direct reference to Auckland’s deferred maintenance problems first highlighted in 2019, they called for directors with experience in asset management, infrastructure delivery, rail safety and metro passenger rail operations.

Pointing to rail’s role in delivering the government’s climate change goals, the pair “believed a strengthened KiwiRail board will provide greater assurance to government that its outcomes will be achieved.”

Auckland’s commuter rail services are facing a triple whammy over the next three to four years, with an investment of $200 million to replace and repair worn tracks after decades of under-maintenance.

There are also disruptive works necessary to prepare for the opening of the $4.4 billion City Rail Link in late 2024, and network upgrades such as a third southern track, and electrification extending to Pukekohe.

Ellison called on Miller to clarify when speed restrictions would end, produce a three-year track maintenance programme requested by AT, and also how it planned to address “reputational and financial impacts”.