15 November

The government is talking up economic growth and investment in infrastructure, but it has made a big blunder showing how inept it is in dealing with infrastructure development. The cancelling of the high productivity, low emissions rail enabled Cook Strait ferries highlighted a foolish impulsive decision for which there was no plan B. Since then, the parlous state of the Cook Strait transport connection has continued with ships losing control and going aground.

The government is also threatening to reduce rail funding by 94% if elected in 2026 due to some ideological transport idea based somewhere between the petrol head days of the 1960’s and the free market economics of the 1980’s. We live in a perilous world now. Climate change is real. The world order has changed rapidly in recent times. Pollution is huge, yet this government is doubling down on a high carbon, high pollution set of transport policies where New Zealand industry will pay over the odds for at least 40% of its freight needs, and the people will be paying high transport costs with many missing social connections.

Rail is required for large bulk orders of freight, such as export containers, logs, coal, steel and large orders of bulk domestic freight such as supermarket loads. However, in New Zealand much of this freight is being carried by road transport.

TRAC coordinator, Niall Robertson says, “I was staying recently at the Millenium Hotel on the waterfront at New Plymouth, and while I was having breakfast I noticed the large number of logging trucks going to the port”. Robertson added, “....there can be up to 200 logging trucks rolling through New Plymouth per day, passing 5 or 6 schools in the city and many more on SH3 en route”.

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The problem is a need to rebuild the rail yard at Breakwater so that KiwiRail can handle larger rakes of wagons. TRAC has suggested that New Plymouth District Council, Waka Kotahi, Port Taranaki and KiwiRail all put in a sum to make this happen.

The other problem that KiwiRail has is the need to develop a business plan that profits KiwiRail primarily, but does not necessarily service New Zealand industry or the communities currently and previously served by rail when the government created KiwiRail. Robertson says, “One rail executive explained to me that KiwiRail could be a lot busier on some lines, but its earnings would go down”.

This is because the transport and economic model for transport in New Zealand is broken. TRAC chair, Gut Wellwood says, “Transport is a pivotal part of the New Zealand economy, but it is also pivotal to society and the environment”. Wellwood says, “Rail improves road safety, reduces greenhouse gases, reduces pollution through air particulate matter and waterway and oceanic pollution from tyre dust. It also reduces road damage and road congestion”.

Robertson says, “The government ignores these advantages, which are literally in the billions, in order to make transport seem more economically viable, but instead moves more freight onto high carbon and polluting road transport”.

Robertson adds, “Then there are the aspects of social and community connectivity”. Robertson says that 30% of the population rely on public transport . These are the elderly, the young (students), people with disabilities and those on low incomes. Robertson says that it is very difficult for students to get home for holidays and for the elderly to visit their grandchildren in a nation with a poor service monopolistic bus system for long distance public transport.

Wellwood adds, “This government wants to improve productivity. Well they can by going ahead with the iReX rail ferry programme to provide a rail connection between the North and South Islands and new rail deviations from Drury to Pokeno and from Greatford to Levin on the North Island Main Trunk Line. These initiatives will provide huge transport cost savings and efficiency between Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, while reducing road congestion, road damage, greenhouse gases, road pollution while improving road safety as well”. Robertson adds that the Levin deviation will improve connectivity between New Plymouth, Whanganui and Wellington too, which would make passenger trains viable on that route too.

Wellwood says, “These suggestions are sensible and rational. They will improve productivity and efficiency, provide a greener and safer transport system, reduce road congestion and damage and provide far better potentials for greater social connectivity for all New Zealanders”.

TRAC believes that these deviations will be value for money too with the Levin to Greatford deviation costing $900 million for approximately 85 kilomtres compared to the Otaki to Levin motorway costing $1.5 billion for jus 25 kilometres.

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