Once again KiwiRail fails? Or is it a knee jerk reaction from Waka Kotahi? This time the rail commuters from Hamilton are affected. The Te Huia train has been up against it since the Hamilton City Council tried to get it started. Initially it was delayed by Covid then held out of the Auckland commuter network until a pathway could be found to allow it as far as The Strand. However, although still unable to make it all the way to Britomart the train has exceeded all expectations for passenger numbers and was growing.

Chair of the Public Transport Users Association (PTUA), Niall Robertson says, “This latest situation raises a number of questions for commuters, such as why has the Te Huia train been banned from Auckland, when other like trains are not?”

Waka Kotahi say that the Te Huia will be banned until it is fitted with a safety device known as ETCS (Electronic Train Control System) which can override a drivers inaction approaching a red light. The PTUA therefore, questions why the Northern Explorer train and a myriad of freight trains are not required to use the ETCS system as well. Especially as the PTUA are led to believe that there have been 15 other incidents involving other trains.

Niall Robertson, asks why there couldn’t be alternatives used to mitigate this problem, such as a second crew member to pilot the train through the Auckland network to help call signals, or drivers being trained in mindfulness operating that is used successfully in Japan?

Jon Reeves, (PTUA National Coordinator) says, “Questions need to be asked why it will take so long for KiwiRail to fit the ETCS system into the locomotives”. Reeves asks, “Is this a logistic problem or is it a money problem? Because if it is the latter problem, then the government needs to stump up with some cash and get the job done!”

Robertson also points out that this train is on a trial and all indications point to it being a success. Robertson says, “The Capital Connection from Palmerston North to Wellington is also a success and is being replaced by new hybrid trains being ordered by the government. The Te Huia train needs its trial to continue for just one more year to prove itself, so it too can have an order for hybrid trains. This will enable the service to go as far as Britomart (Waitemata), where all the commuters wanted to go in the first place”. Robertson says, “Waiting one more year might put added cost onto the order for Hamilton- Auckland trains if they can’t be part of the Wellington larger order and also risks driving people away from the service and back into their cars”.

The PTUA is calling for Waka Kotahi and KiwiRail to look at ways of mitigating the current perceived danger in order to reduce that risk now and to keep the Te Huia trial going!

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