Government launches review into ‘embarrassing’ KiwiRail train disruption in Wellington

The Government is launching a rapid review into KiwiRail after a faulty piece of critical equipment led to major disruptions on Wellington’s rail network.

The review will look at whether KiwiRail is appropriately focused on delivering reliable commuter services, if KiwiRail’s engagement with stakeholders regarding this breakdown was adequate, and what changes are needed to prevent the problem from happening again.

”The disruption of Wellington train services this week is not good enough and follows other similar instances of service disruptions to commuters on KiwiRail’s network,” Transport Minister Michael Wood said this afternoon.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the situation was unacceptable and KiwiRail had “dropped the ball”.

Lack of funding was not an excuse, he said.

If there was a constraint on resources, Hipkins said, he would expect KiwiRail to take steps to address it before it became a problem.

Starting this morning, all trains are operating at a 70km/h speed limit, and train services will be running at reduced timetables.

Thousands of passengers have been affected, with one saying the situation they encountered this morning “was beyond any worst-case scenario I’d imagined”.

This is after KiwiRail announced its only specialist track evaluation car, which measures tracks across the country so trains can operate safely, was broken.

Metlink hoped to resume its full weekday timetable on Thursday after a fix was found for KiwiRail’s specialist equipment “at the 11th hour”. KiwiRail will start some track assessments tonight.

KiwiRail will fully co-operate with the review and chief executive Peter Reidy said the state-owned enterprise has accepted full responsibility for the disruption.

”We are working to resolve the matter in days, not weeks, and to ensure this issue is not repeated. The disruptions are unacceptable.”

KiwiRail took safety seriously and the speed restrictions were so potential safety risks are being managed, Reidy said.

“But we know Wellingtonians want this situation resolved as soon as possible and to never happen again. The KiwiRail team shares that view, and we will learn from this mistake.”

KiwiRail bosses were called to the Beehive this morning to explain the major disruptions. Wood asked executives of the state-owned enterprise for an explanation of what has occurred with the service and how they planned to fix it.

“KiwiRail have accepted responsibility for the missteps which will result in further disruptions to services this week, and have reassured me they are acting quickly to restore fully functional services for commuters,” Wood said.

Since 2017, the Government has invested $8.6 billion to build a resilient and reliable network after decades of neglect and decline, he said.

Last week a fleet of 18 brand-new trains for Wairarapa and Kāpiti Coast was announced to support the introduction of express services.

The investigation into KiwRail was vital to public confidence and ensuring Kiwis were getting the benefits of the Government’s investment, Wood said.

Ministers expect to receive the findings of the review next month.

A Wellington commuter who lives in Tawa and works in the eastern suburbs said she didn’t drive and relied on public transport due to a medical issue.

“I knew that commuting today was going to be difficult, but the situation I encountered was beyond any worst-case scenario I’d imagined. I waited 40 minutes past the time Metlink’s website said a train would arrive.

“When it did, it was already packed, far beyond what could possibly have been safe. I don’t think anyone who’d been waiting on the platform was able to board.”

The commuter managed to get a ride with a colleague and eventually arrived to work an hour and a half late.

National's transport spokesman, Simeon Brown, says it's unacceptable our capital city has reduced train services because KiwiRail can’t organise itself properly. Photo / Mark Mitchell

KiwiRail national human relations operations manager Paul Ashton told Newstalk ZB Wellington Morning’s host Nick Mills the fault is “embarrassing” for the company.

Ashton told Mills the executives planned to take any criticism from the meeting with Wood “on the chin”.

In an update this afternoon, KiwiRail chief operations officer Siva Sivapakkiam said the track evaluation car has travelled down from Auckland and is now in Palmerston North.

It will begin assessing one of the two tracks on the Kāpiti line tonight and look at the other track tomorrow night while trains are not running on the network.

“KiwiRail infrastructure crews are ready to urgently repair any track issues that may be found. Later this week we should be able to lift the 70km/h speed restriction that was placed on the Kāpiti line today,” Sivapakkiam said.

Over the course of the week, the evaluation car will be assessing the Hutt Valley/Wairarapa line, Johnsonville line and Melling line to avoid the need for blanket speed restrictions being applied on these lines.

“We expect the entire Wellington metro network to have been assessed by the end of Friday 5 May,” Sivapakkiam said.

“I apologise again to the people of the Wellington region for this disruption. We are working as hard as we can to get the work done, so that services can return to normal as quickly as possible.”

National’s transport spokesman, Simeon Brown, said thousands of Wellington commuters have been left stranded or forced into overcrowded trains due to KiwiRail’s inability to plan for contingencies.

Earlier today, he called on the Government to launch an urgent investigation.

“It is unacceptable that our capital city will have reduced train services because KiwiRail can’t organise itself properly.

“It just beggars belief that this has happened. Why does KiwiRail have just one track inspection car? Why was it broken and why wasn’t it fixed earlier? Are other tracks at risk of speed restrictions too? Why weren’t the appropriate track inspections done earlier?”