KiwiRail's infrastructure upgrade works across the Auckland Metro. Photo / Supplied
KiwiRail CEO Peter Reidy shares how a new maintenance approach will keep trains moving for passengers and freight following a $1.5 billion network upgrade to prepare for CRL.
When City Rail Link (CRL) opens later this year, it will be supported by a transformed rail network that will meet the needs of the increased services the new underground tunnel will bring. Every Aucklander knows about the ongoing closures and disruption while we have brought it up to standard in recent years – we are all ready to reap the rewards of a new era for train travel.
The journey to get the network to a “steady state” is worth reflecting on to share the context for these upgrades and what we were able to deliver, with support from our rail partners Auckland Transport and City Rail Link Ltd and the funding injection of more than $2b from the Government (excluding City Rail Link).
The Auckland rail network was originally built for freight and not designed for the level of use associated with a busy metro. Globally most metros don’t share their networks with freight and the logistics are complex. Many New Zealanders don’t realise that we are still running a mixed-use network – this busy metro must co-exist with freight services as they deliver and collect goods from Auckland Port and our Southdown and Westfield hubs. Logistically this creates challenges which only increase when passenger services become more frequent.
One of the ways we’ve addressed this complexity is the construction of the 6.5km Third Main line – an additional track that allows freight and metro services to bypass each other at the busiest part of the network on the southern line. Hand in hand with track configurations at Quay Park enabling more effective freight movements into the Ports of Auckland, this decongestion solution future-proofs for the forecasted increase of both freight and passenger journeys.
Historically, for a multitude of reasons, KiwiRail hasn’t been able to keep up with the level of maintenance needed for the huge increase in demand for passenger services over the last couple of decades. This has left large parts of the network vulnerable to general wear and tear and weather events – often meaning we have had to enforce speed restrictions on the network for safety. Our Rail Network Rebuild (RNR) programme has addressed these priority areas – rebuilding the foundations, drainage and track from the bottom up.
We’re often asked why we can’t keep trains running during these works. In the case of this programme there is often no track in place for them to run on. That’s how invasive the works have been - RNR alone across 80kms of track on the 182kms metro.
Making train travel the quickest, most convenient choice has huge socio-economic and lifestyle benefits. So, getting ahead of the game by future-proofing for forecasted population growth in southern Auckland was a no-brainer – extending the electrified track by 19kms from Papakura to Pukekohe has meant travellers into the city no longer have to change trains at Papakura, unlocking faster, cleaner journeys into the city.
Combined with constructing three new stations on this line - Drury, Paerātā and Ngākōroa - it is a great example of infrastructure being developed ahead of population growth, future-proofing for increasing demand and ensuring that public transport networks are factored into the big picture for economic growth in South Auckland.
With more electric trains comes the need for more power. Another part of preparing the network for CRL has been providing back-up power supply to support reliability. The Western Power Feed came online last year and uses new Static Frequency Converter technology to provide power further and more efficiently compared to existing substation feeds. We have another power feed using the same technology in the south due to begin operating in 2028 – ensuring we have power when we need it, where we need it as demand grows.
Readying the network has been a massive undertaking by our people – delivering around a decade’s worth of work in the last four years – which has come at a cost. We know the disruption has had a huge impact on train travellers as we closed the network to blitz it as quickly as possible and carrying out work that couldn’t be delivered with trains running. We acknowledge this major inconvenience and thank Aucklanders for their patience.
The addition of CRL uplifts Auckland metro to a world-class network standard. To support this outcome, we will deliver maintenance in a new, proactive way, allowing services to run relatively uninterrupted and keeping momentum, bringing back patronage and giving passengers long-term confidence that they can rely on trains to get them around the city.
Our new maintenance strategy allows us to leverage new technology and automation to create a proactive, dynamic, cyclical maintenance regime – segmenting the network into 36 zones. This allows us to maintain it to the necessary standards, while keeping trains running.
This dynamic approach is also key for our freight customers and the ability to keep the supply chain moving in this complex mixed-mode network, where passenger and freight rail must continue to co-exist effectively.
To be clear, there will always be maintenance needs. Neglecting these would put us right back where we started. But this new regime will ensure lengthy whole-network shutdowns are a thing of the past, barring major weather events or critical failure. This will elevate us to the same standards of maintenance delivery as other world-class modern metros and enabling Aucklanders to enjoy the true benefits of the new travel experience CRL will bring.
KiwiRail is a sponsor of the Herald’s Project Auckland report.