Kerre Woodham: We have a legacy of rail but do we have a future?

Public transport is brilliant when it works. You cannot beat it for convenience, for timeliness, for moving large numbers of people expeditiously and in an environmentally friendly-ish kind of a way, when it works. When it doesn't, it's a pain. Look at the poor Auckland rail commuters this morning – due to an infrastructure issue at Penrose, there were delays and cancellations. No services running through Newmarket on the Southern line, all Southern Line services were running via the Eastern Line, Onehunga line services cancelled until further notice. Just what you need, and not for the first time.  

Auckland's rail network rebuild started in January 2023 and in its final stages, as announced, there would be 96 days of train closures from Christmas 2025 through to January 2026. KiwiRail chief infrastructure officer Andre Lovatt said the work was critical to convert the existing network, which was designed for freight trains, to one that has the capacity to carry faster and more frequent trains, about 16 an hour when the CRL opens. And when they're running, and when it's working, and when there aren't closures, it will be brilliant. It will be a really efficient way of moving people about the city at critical times. A lot of the really long-term problems will have been fixed, he reckons, so that means they'll be able to focus on preventative maintenance, and he's promised the long periods of closure won't be required in the future once the work is done.  

The Government, too, appears to have faith in the rail network in our major cities as a means of transporting commuters. They also appear to have faith in its ability to shift freight, with the pre-Budget announcement of a $604 million investment in rail. Chris Bishop, the Minister for Transport, said investment in the Auckland and Wellington Metro network would enable vital and overdue work to be carried out. I thought vital and overdue work was already being carried out, but clearly there's more where that came from. A backlog of overdue renewals had made the services less reliable, with commuters experiencing ongoing disruption in recent years, and indeed this very morning that the announcement was made.  

Winston Peters, the Minister for Rail, says rail currently moves 13% of national freight and a quarter of New Zealand's exports, complementing the truckies during the short hauls. He says the rail network investment programme for 2024 -2027 is now funded, meaning maintenance, network operations, asset renewals and modest improvements are funded. We have a legacy for rail freight, says Winston Peters, and this builds on it.  

So there has been much investment in varying sorts of rail over the last two to three governments. Yes, we have a legacy of rail but clearly there is a commitment to a future for rail. Both in terms of Metro commuting and in terms of freight. I would love to see rail be a big part of our cities and of linking the provinces for commuters and of shifting freight – it's interoperable with the trucks. But we don't seem to have been terribly well served when it comes to getting value for money for our investment. I'm not even going to talk about light rail because I'll probably have a cardiac infarction and that will be the end of that, if you just think about the money that was wasted on that.

We have a legacy of rail, is it a part of our future? I would really like to think so. I would really like to think that Andre Lovatt is right, that when it comes to Auckland in particular, all of the disruption and all of the inconvenience and all of the teeth grinding frustration of commuters will come to an end. The work will be done, they will get ahead of themselves in terms of renewals and remediation, and be able to be proactive in maintenance so that things don't come to a grinding halt. I would like to think that the rail tracks could be upgraded so that transport between our ports isn't just solely dependent on our trucks. That more of the load could be shifted onto rail making it easier for everybody – those using the road, the exporters, those working in the ports.  

But we have been so poorly served by the money that we've invested as taxpayers. We've earned the money, we have asked our bureaucrats and our governments to invest it wisely on our behalf. Most of us, I think, support some form of rail but I would really like to see more accountability for how it is spent and for delivery. KiwiRail says yes, you'll get that. We're getting ahead of ourselves by 2026, we’ll be sweet. Do you believe that? Winston Peters says we have a legacy for rail freight. Do we have a future when it comes to rail freight? I'd really like to hear from those who do the heavy lifting for this country, metaphorically and literally. Can we have more than the 13% of national freight and a quarter of New Zealand's exports on rail? And when it comes to commuters do you have faith that this will be a brilliant, convenient, timely, fantastic way to travel in the near future?   

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