NZTA urgently investigated safety concerns raised by Auckland and Wellington train bosses against KiwiRail; Simeon Brown to meet Auckland rail companies Monday

The operators of the Auckland and Wellington networks have concerns about rail safety. Photo / Darren Masters

NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) investigated “safety concerns” relating to Auckland and Wellington’s commuter rail services, with the two private companies writing to the agency making allegations against state-owned enterprise KiwiRail.

The concerns related to safety, risk management and the professional relationships between KiwiRail and Auckland One Rail and Transdev Wellington, the private companies that run their cities’ metropolitan rail networks.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown told the Herald he was meeting with key KiwiRail, Auckland OneRail and Auckland Transport tomorrow.

Brown said the purpose of the meeting was to “make clear my expectations of how they should work together and put customers first in the decisions being made”.

“The Government is also reviewing the Metropolitan Rail Operating Model to ensure that it is fit for purpose for the future and to ensure customers are put first in decisions being made on our metro rail networks,” he said.

KiwiRail owns and maintains the tracks that Auckland and Wellington’s commuter trains run on, but it also runs its own commercial freight services on them. The companies that run the commuter services have previously complained that KiwiRail prioritises its own commercial interests, which lie in freight, over commuter services.

The Herald received documents under the Official Information Act showing that in March, the chief executives of Auckland One Rail and Transdev Wellington to NZTA complaining about KiwiRail. The letter was sent shortly after mass cancellations of train services in February owing to “heat” problems.

“The letter alleges interoperability and safety concerns,” an NZTA memo released to the Herald said.

The same memo went on to say those concerns were being investigated with “urgency” by NZTA, which is responsible for rail safety in New Zealand.

The memo said the concerns related to KiwiRail’s “application of its risk management system”, specifically the “interface” of KiwiRail and metro rail operations.

Brown said “rail commuters in both Auckland and Wellington are rightly fed up with the recent level of service they have been receiving over the past few years, with significant cancellations and delays caused due to poor track maintenance, signal outages and industrial action by unions”.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown is meeting with Auckland train bosses. Photo / Mark Mitchell

He said Aucklanders were “sick of the blame game between KiwiRail, Auckland OneRail and Auckland Transport”.

“They simply want a rail service that is reliable. Without reliability, metro rail will not be a viable option for Aucklanders to help them get to where they want to go quickly and safely.”

Brown said the Government had included $266.9 million in the Budget to upgrade and maintain the metro rail networks in Auckland and Wellington.

Gini Welch, NZTA national manager rail safety regulation, told the Herald in a statement that NZTA “considered the concerns carefully, and concluded that most of the specific issues raised are best assessed and addressed through scheduled safety assessments”.

“The remaining issues raised related to professional relationships, interface processes, interoperability and effective co-regulation,” Welch said.

To resolve these issues, Welch said NZTA hosted “a facilitated workshop” on May 17, 2024 where the parties could “discuss the issues and agree on a way forward, specifically with regard to effective co-regulation in the metro rail networks”.

Welch said all stakeholders had committed “to work collaboratively to give effect to a safer rail system”.

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown was approached for comment. Brown had been highly critical of Auckland Transport, KiwiRail and One Rail following this February’s shutdowns.

Back then, high temperatures meant the imposition of severe speed restrictions across the network, which led to mass cancellations. There were fears the heat would cause the steel in the rail lines to move if the trains passed over them too quickly, leading to speeds on the line being slowed and subsequently fewer services being able to run.

“The frequent disruptions on the Auckland train network have become unacceptable,” Brown said at the time.

In a joint statement, KiwiRail, Auckland One Rail and Transdev Wellington told the Herald they were “committed to a joint focus on safety”.

They said that while “Auckland and Wellington metro rail networks are safe for customers and staff” and safety continued to be the “top priority”, the current large-scale infrastructure upgrades “present challenges”.

KiwRail has been blamed for delays in Auckland commuter rail. Photo / Edward Swift

“Workshops have been held to ensure we are aligned and understand the realities of our network condition and performance capabilities while keeping customers at the forefront of decision-making,” the statement said.

“The huge scope of work being carried out in Auckland and Wellington means that there are inevitably some complexities as new infrastructure is integrated with existing systems. We are all operating in a challenging environment and are committed to working through any issues together.”

In April this year, ministers sent a letter of expectation to KiwiRail, which is wholly owned by the Government, raising “serious questions” about the organisation, including its safety record. State-Owned Enterprises Minister Paul Goldsmith said KiwiRail was failing to achieve its target of halving its Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate (TRIFR) over three years.

In 2023, KiwiRail investigated an incident involving a train driver running a red light, which led to a passenger train service being barred from downtown Auckland due to safety concerns.

NZTA slapped the ban on the Auckland to Hamilton service Te Huia after different drivers ran red lights in two separate incidents.

Thomas Coughlan is Deputy Political Editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the press gallery since 2018.