Outrage grows at rail failure

Auckland rail officials are urgently reviewing train combinations and timetables amid public outrage at continual delays to services, particularly on the western line through Waitakere City.

Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey will tonight ask his city council to summon regional rail operator Connex Auckland before it to account for its persistent inability to run services on time after almost a year in the job.

Latest figures from the Auckland Regional Transport Authority, which contracts Connex to run Auckland's 92km rail network, show that just 50 per cent of western services ran on time or less than five minutes late in the two months from April 1 and May 31.

This compared with 70 per cent of services on the southern and eastern lines, and a target of 80 per cent written into a performance agreement.

But it followed an increase in short-run services from Britomart to New Lynn at peak times to capitalise on the first stage of a rail duplication project, putting extra strain on longer-range trains hampered by continuing bottlenecks on the single track further west.

The more recent introduction of new locomotive-hauled trains, although giving passengers smoother rides, is believed to have increased delays in the past few weeks.

Connex has tried to hasten running times by using an extra locomotive, on loan from national rail operator Toll Holdings, to increase the pulling capacity of its regional fleet.

Complicating matters are recurring signals faults in the state-owned New Zealand Railways Corporation track network, another of which occurred at about 6.30pm last night, delaying western line trains by at least 30 minutes.

Mr Harvey, in his monthly report to the council, decries "an intolerably chaotic and I believe disastrous continuation of what the long-suffering rail commuters have had to bear in the west."

"While this council, with all its best intentions, has strived to lift to unprecedented heights the train patronage, the very system we have cheered on has left the daily user - whether to school or work - in utter despair."

Mr Harvey yesterday amplified to the Herald his concern that "a generation" of potentially loyal rail customers may give up on trains before a $35 million civic centre his council is building at Henderson with a $10.7 million transport interchange opens next June.

"Somebody needs to start explaining why they are destroying people's hopes and ambitions forever," he said.

"Many have given up and simply bought a cheap Japanese car, and why wouldn't you?"

He said in his mayoral report that he had given Connex general manager Chris White six months, after the company took over rail operations last July, to ensure trains began running to their timetables.

"Well, Mr White, you haven't and I don't know if you can," he says in a recommendation he will make to his council that it summon the rail chief to appear at its July meeting.

"His organisation should be asked: Can you do it or can't you?" Mr Harvey said.

"If it's the latter, we should know now - after all, we are adults and can accept the truth when it's told to us, but we can't continue buying into the contradictions and nonsense these rail operators have continued to deliver to our citizens."

"Next year we open one of the most sophisticated transport hubs in the region and the double-tracking system limping westward 20 years overdue is heading towards that hub."

Asked whether he was concerned a loss of confidence in rail may render the transport part of his civic centre a white elephant, he said it could be "borderline".

Mr White said there were a number of reasons for continuing delays, including locomotive "performance issues" at a time of increasing patronage.

He referred the Herald to the regional transport authority for details of a review of train combinations and timetables, which was complicated by tight schedules for taking locomotives and carriages in and out of service for refurbishment projects.

This made it extra difficult to match vehicle types with changing patronage demands, but he said the transport authority was doing what it could to "deliver these kinds of good things to the people of Auckland."

"I'm confident we will get there, but invariably we'll have to go through a bit of pain for a while."

Transport authority rail service delivery manager Jeremy Sutton said last night that his organisation was working with Connex to bring forward timetable changes not otherwise due to be made until October.

This would extend to the introduction of Sunday and late-night services, and be followed by increases in weekday peak frequencies in February, as expected annual rail patronage heads towards about 5.5 million from 4 million this year.

He said he was prepared to accompany Mr White in an appearance before Waitakere City Council, at which he would be keen to assure Mr Harvey of service improvements before the new civic centre opens.

Mr Sutton said the authority was not quite ready to provide details of potential improvements, but he was confident they would "better reflect the current environment covering infrastructure, rolling stock and patronage, and will make provision for future growth."