Rail network planning & funding changes: Making a submission

There are four days left for indviduals and organisations to make a submission on the proposed changes to the planning and funding framework for New Zealand's national rail network - all submissions must be received by 5pm Friday 7th February 2020.

Notable changes proposed include:

• Abolishing KiwiRail's existing track access fees for other operators. 
• Setting new track user charges for all operators, set and regulated in a transparent way by government, with each operator paying the charges into the National Land Transport Fund rather than to KiwiRail. 
• Establishing a new three-year Rail Network Investment Plan (RNIP) with input from local councils and subject to public consultation.
   

These are important changes that will give New Zealanders a greater say in how the network should be developed over time. It also takes us much closer to enabling network access by other operators for moving freight, by separating track access charges from KiwiRail's business.

Submissions can be made here

A further cabinet paper will be released in due course, dealing specifically with the setting of network user charges, and that too will be open to submissions.

DBM Engineering's freight train

Quite neat to see a non-KiwiRail "freight train", operating under an independent licence, on the national network.  With thanks to Alex Burgess, who filmed the move.

DBM own quite a collection of locomotives and rolling stock, which until now have been based at their Otahuhu depot, but are in need of relocation due to proposed development of the depot site for a new freight forwarding depot.

With thanks to Alex Burgess, who filmed the move.

Gisborne rail service viable and essential

(reproduced from "Hawke's Bay Today", 20th October 2015 edition)


Talking Point – Rail Service Viable and Essential

By Alan Dick - 

 “The immediate challenge however is how to handle the “wall of wood” from the Wairoa forest” 

In your article “Nash talks up re-opening of rail link” (Monday, October 19), MP Craig Foss, as a determined opponent of rail, is quoted: “The evidence was that the line was hardly being used before the washout.” He added: “Businesses were choosing not to use the line and had been choosing not to for many years.” He is wrong. 

In fact, in the immediate period leading up to the washouts, three or more fully loaded trains were moving squash and other products from Gisborne to Napier Port – and demand was such that double the number of trains could have been running except that KiwiRail could not provide the required locos, wagons and drivers. 

What had happened? From 2010, all Hawke’s Bay and East Coast MP’s, with the exception of minister Foss, had been urging businesses to use rail. Correctly sensing demand, KiwiRail spent $300,000 to lower the bed of three tunnels, to finally enable full capacity 40ft high-cube containers to be carried on the line.

Brand new high-cube curtainsider wagons, for palletised traffic, in Gisborne in 2012

Then entrepreneurial Gisborne-based transport operator Steve Weatherell (running 80 trucks nationally) took the opportunity as a freight forwarder to shift his customers’ product from road to rail. 

For his customers, a smooth, damage-free ride for their sensitive product and direct movement of full containers from packhouse to portside without repacking or double handling. 

For Weatherell Transport, better service for their customers and avoiding a difficult road. For Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne, dual transport mode choice, reduced heavy traffic congestion on a difficult route, and consequently safety and environmental benefits. 

Weatherell Transport tripled tonnage on the Gisborne railway in early 2012, demonstrating how effective other operators can be at securing freight contracts for the rail network

What a tragedy when the washouts struck in March, 2012. Avoidable with proper attention to culvert and drainage maintenance, had the line remained intact KiwiRail would have now had a fully viable rail business with all the resultant environmental and economic benefits for our region. 

 

High-cube containers enroute from Napier to Gisborne, 2012

That takes us to today. 

The Gisborne container freight market potential remains and, in fact, will grow with a wood processing hub to be established. 

Gisborne Port is a specialised log exporter but is unlikely to ever attract export container ship calls. Napier is the logical container destination, being closer than Tauranga. 

The immediate challenge, however, is how to handle the “wall of wood” from the Wairoa forest harvests, which will ramp up dramatically over the next few years. Not including logs, which will continue to move by road to processors like Pan Pac, Wairoa export log harvests will move from 323,000 tonnes next year to a million tonnes and more from 2020. 

Forest managers believe that conservatively half of that volume can, and should, move by rail from a log hub at Wairoa to Napier Port. there will still be plenty of work for truckers, moving logs on short trips from the harvest sites to the log hub and carrying extra volumes direct to the port.

High-cube containers being transferred from road to rail in Gisborne. Rail is the only transport mode able to move these fully loaded from Gisborne to Napier, and without it, growth of the local economy is hampered

There is a viable business for a rail operator on the East Coast line, based initially just on Wairoa logs alone but with heritage steam tourism and Gisborne container potential. KiwiRail have at least two such proposals on their desk. 

 

New Zealand's newest shortline operator, the Gisborne City Vintage Railway, is set to commence operations between Gisborne Port and Muriwai from November 2015

And the worst case outcome? KiwiRail rejects the rail freight proposals in favour of a lease to cycle or golf cart tourism promoters.

The then consequence of State Highway 2 having to handle quadrupled log volumes will be heavy traffic congestion from a road transport industry with insufficient capacity to cope, the road being wrecked, tragic deaths and injuries from accidents, and game-changing opportunity for the economic and social development of northern Hawke’s Bay lost forever. It can’t be allowed to happen. 

High-cube containers travelling south from Gisborne by rail, 2012

* Alan Dick is a Hawke’s Bay regional councillor, former Napier mayor and is chairman of the Hawke’s Bay regional transport committee. 

(All photos courtesy Napier-Gisborne Railway Ltd)

CentreRail ramps up Castlecliff rail operation

As part of Wellington-based CentrePort's lower North Island growth strategy, a second weekday train service from Castlecliff (Wanganui) to Wellington was introduced on Monday 28th September 2015.

The first run of new train 565 on Monday 28th September. Photo by Brad Harvey

Until Friday 25th September, Castlecliff was served by train 560 from Palmerston North each weekday morning, and train 561 back to Palmerston North each weekday afternoon.

The new timetable has new service 566 arriving from Wellington in the morning, returning to Wellington in the afternoon as train 565, and a rescheduled 560 arriving from Palmerston North in the afternoon, returning as new service 567 to Wellington in the evening.  Trains 560 and 565 are scheduled to cross at East Town.

The weekend 562-569 service continues as before, operating as required.

CentrePort has made rail the backbone of its central New Zealand growth strategy, operating and trading as CentreRail, linking hubs in New Plymouth, Castlecliff, Palmerston North and Blenheim, with CentrePort in Wellington, targeting forestry and dairy products in particular.

CentreRail uses dedicated trains between Castlecliff and Wellington, but also makes use of scheduled KiwiRail services for tonnage from New Plymouth and Blenheim.

Marsden Point Rail Link: Where's it at?

News about the long proposed Marsden Point Rail Link, a new branch line in Northland linking the North Auckland Line at Oakleigh with the deep water port at Marsden Point, has been scarce in recent years. Things went quiet on the subject in 2009, which was of course, the first year of the new government, and many, including myself, came to believe it had dropped off the radar.

Unfortunately that assessment is somewhat true, in that the push to have it actually built, has diminished, for the time being at least.  However, the good news is that the planning process did in fact continue.  In October 2009, Northland Regional Council issued its decision to grant the resource consent, and the Whangarei District Council issued its favourable recommendation to confirm the designation.  Shortly after, in November 2009, KiwiRail released its decision to confirm the designation.

This enabled the final round of submissions and appeals, being worked through until there were only five appeals remaining.  In June 2010 an Environment Court hearing was held, which ultimately lead to one appeal being withdrawn, another struck off, and three going into a settlement process.

In April 2012, the Environment Court issued consent to KiwiRail for the Oakleigh to Marsden Point rail link.

Now, in 2013, there is a continuous and fully designated rail corridor from Oakleigh to Marsden Point, and all of the land is now owned by the council for the purpose of building the railway.

While it's true the first sod has not been turned, it is heartening to know that a new rail corridor was successfully established, and it means that if a decision is ever made to proceed with construction, it could begin almost immediately.

But what chance is there currently, of the line actually being built?  Northland Port Corporation reiterated their plans for a container terminal on 23rd October 2013, and the rail link is part of the plan.  Certainly they want the link.  But they are hamstrung to a degree, by their conflicting ownership.

Issues working against the project appear to be:

• The port owners include Ports of Auckland and Port of Tauranga, both of whom have established operations already.
• Lack of any priority by KiwiRail, who are occupied with getting their existing network up to scratch.
• Potential inability of the North Auckland Line to be competitive with the NIMT and ECMT route between Auckland and Tauranga.  It can be upgraded, but will still require substantially lower load schedules due to the gradients, resulting in higher freight rates than can be offered on the Tauranga route.

However, there may be a case for the line being worthwhile, even if the movement of containers to and from Auckland is a minimal contribution overall.  Logs from throughout Northland are moved to the port in large quantities, that, if railed from transfer sites could require three trains a day from Otiria, two from Dargaville, and one from Wellsford.  Then there is large quantities of coal from the port to Portland, woodchips from Portland to the port, and fertiliser from the port to Whangarei.

A private siding into the Carter Holt Harvey Laminated Veneer mill at Marsden Point could also potentially provide sizeable tonnages.

Lastly, there is a need to replace the 170km long Marsden Point to Auckland oil pipeline within the next decade.  This pipeline carries 2.2 million tonnes of petroleum products per year.  Unlike the original pipeline, built 30 years ago, the new one will be constructed in an era of significantly stricter environmental guidelines, and is likely to cost approximately $200m.  Could there be a case for moving the oil by rail instead?  If not, could there at least be a case for moving oil by rail for North Island distribution beyond Auckland, instead of coastal shipping with its greater environmental risks?

The potential for a very busy railway is there.  But the port needs to do better in formulating a business case that will get the attention of KiwiRail and the government alike.

To quote North Port chairman Sir John Goulter from Northland Port Corporation's annual general meeting last month "We have some exciting plans long term. There is a long-term plan that does include containerisation......and possibly we have not taken this out to the general public as much as we should have. Maybe we should be down there and better explain what we can do......Maybe we have been too passive in that regard".

I hope this line gets built.  It could not only gain existing tonnage, but its construction would also lead to much more business being established at Marsden Point.  For KiwiRail, it could eventually be the next Mount Maunganui.

Distributed Power: Has its time come in New Zealand?

Every decade or so, a major operational change tends to take place in global freight railroading, particularly in North America, and New Zealand has generally kept up with these changes.  As an example, in North America in the mid 1980's, technology enabled removal of cabooses from freight trains, leading to a reduction in staff and costs.  New Zealand Railways embraced this revolutionary change without delay, and the final guards vans disappeared from trains in New Zealand even earlier than the final cabooses vanished in the United States.

Another example is with train crewing.  When the United States reduced train crew size from four to three, in conjunction with removal of cabooses, NZR reduced crew size from three to two for the same reason.  Within a further five years, improvements to communication systems enabled the United States to further reduce crew size from three, to just two.  Again, simultaneously, NZR embraced the same technological improvements and reduced its crew size from two, to just one.  In the yards it was similar, with shunting crews being signicantly reduced in size in the US and NZ at much the same time, for the same reason (better radio systems).

In some cases, New Zealand lead the way with these mini revolutions.  Widespread use of remote control shunting came to New Zealand some five to ten years ahead of most of North America.  Removal of flashing lights from level crossing barrier arms, replaced by reflective strips, is only now beginning to occur in North America, close to 20 years behind this change being made in New Zealand.

In other areas we kept up, albeit on a much smaller scale.  When freight train sizes were increased in America in the 1980's, with more motive power being assigned to trains, the same soon happened here.  Many large trial trains were run throughout the country, in aid of setting new load schedules.  Three DX's on a lengthy Murupara log train was a notable trial at the time, even making the 6 o'clock news.  Single headers were replaced with double headers, and triple headers became common.  Fewer, but larger trains was the catch phrase.

But another revolution began to take place in North America in 2007, that to date, has passed us by.  Rolled out over a five year period, and largely fully in place by 2012, has been the change to routine use of Distributed Power (DP).  Once the domain of specific heavy-haul railroads, DP was extended to ordinary freight trains on a trial basis during 2005 and 2006, by most of the class 1 railroads in America.  It quickly took off, and today, most freight trains now operate with locomotives on both the head and rear of the train, and often in the middle as well.

The obvious change this has lead to is train length.  3000 metre long freights are now in widespread use across America.  America has always had big trains.  100 car, 2000 metre jobs could be seen in the 60's and 70's, but today, 170-180 cars is commonplace.

The advantages with DP are significant.  Having locomotives pushing from the rear, or pushing and pulling in the middle, greatly reduces drawgear stress where it is at its highest, near the front of the train.  Lateral friction is also greatly reduced, meaning less wear on wheels and rails, whilst also reducing fuel consumption of the locomotives.  Slack throughout the train is also better controlled, with fewer run-ins and pull-outs, and instances of train pull-aparts are greatly reduced, to the point of near elimination.  Braking is enhanced significantly, as air pressure changes take effect much sooner when commenced from two or three points along the train, rather than from just the front.

There are also disadvantages however.  Making up and then breaking up a train, takes longer with the need to add locomotives in different sections.  DP technology itself comes with a cost.  Buying it, and then fitting it to the fleet.  But these costs have been found to be more than outweighed by the advantages the technology has to offer.  Overall, costs come down.

To their credit, KiwiRail have pursued a new round of train size increases in recent times, that has largely gone unremarked in railfan circles.  A few years back, NIMT freights were increased from around 35 wagons to around 45 wagons.  1800 tonnes up the spiral was set as a goal, and today, 2000 tonnes is being seriously looked at.  On the Murupara Branch, log trains are being increased from 35 wagons, to 40, then to 45, with 50 rumoured to be a new target.  Metroport trains are getting bigger, and there is the often talked about plan to get Midland Line coal trains up to 45 wagons, and some 3000 odd tonnes, which would make them the heaviest trains to operate in this country.

In some cases the changes are being implemented, but in others, and in particular the Midland Line coal trains changing to 45 wagons, the proposals have stalled.

Is there a place for DP technology to not only provide solutions, but to take our train sizes and weights to even higher levels?   I believe there is.   But it does require some change in thinking on behalf of KiwiRail.  To a degree it makes sense to run smaller, more frequent trains in New Zealand.  The cartage distances are not that great, the terrain can be difficult, and wagon utilisation is at a premium.  But with all the new wagons being purchased by KiwiRail, and higher horse power on offer from the new locomotives, the existing trains on the network are beginning to reach capacity in terms of length and weight.  Adding more and more trains will reduce network timekeeping, so I believe a balance needs to be found between adding more new services, and adding more tonnage to existing trains.

Photo courtesy Phil's Loco Photos

Auckland to Wellington is some 665km by freight train, and while relatively short on an international scale, is still a reasonable distance.  It may be worth spending a bit more time at Southdown or Westfield adding locos to the rear, if it enables say, 3000 tonnes to be pushed up the spiral.  Getting at least 50% more tonnage onto existing trains, with an overall reduction in expenses, may just be worth doing.  Longer make up roads, and longer crossing loops would of course be required, but would enable long term savings that will make rail more competitive than it currently is.  Furthermore, if the same locomotives are left on the train right through, the extra time needed to make up the train in Auckland, may be offset by a faster transit through Hamilton and Palmerston North.  2 DL on the front, and 1 DL on the rear, and just keep going, all the way from Auckland to Wellington.

Down south, DP may just enable those 45 wagon coal trains to operate, without the problem of drawgear breaks.

There is one outstanding challenge to DP in the New Zealand context. The terrain will likely result in some momentary loss of telemetry between leading and rear end locomotives.  But DP technology takes this into account, and is designed to automatically recover from short signal losses.  I'm sure this issue could be managed effectively.

Should KiwiRail consider DP, it will mark a new round of revolution to our train scene.  It will put us back on track with international best practice, and has the potential to help KiwiRail reach its goal of becoming self sufficient through more efficient operations.