The Track Evaluation Car, shown here in Wellington, is set to be replaced by 2026 or 2027. Photo: KiwiRail
The Track Evaluation Car, shown here in Wellington, will likely be replaced by 2026 or 2027.
KiwiRail has ordered its own investigation into a series of failures that has resulted in major disruption for Wellington commuters this week.
Train services in the capital were drastically cut back after a specialist track machine was unable to assess the Wellington rail network.
It prompted speed restrictions of 70kmh, with just half as many services as usual during peak times. On Tuesday morning Metlink suggested that Wellington public transport users should work from home or travel at off peak hours if they were able.
In a statement, KiwiRail chief executive Peter Reidy said several factors led to the Wellington disruption, including a mechanical fault with the Track Evaluation Car and scheduling problems.
"Again, we apologise to the people of the Wellington region, and we are working as quickly as possible to fix this situation.
"When leaders learned of the issue last week, we immediately launched a recovery programme to minimise what we recognise is an unacceptable level of disruption for Wellington commuters. Urgent priority was given to repairing our Track Evaluation Car (TEC) and getting it down from Auckland."
Work on the Kāpiti Line was expected to be completed tonight with the speed restriction to be lifted and normal services to resume on Thursday morning, he said.
"We take full responsibility for what has happened. We are commissioning an external review to understand how we ended up in this situation and ensure that it is never repeated."
On Monday, State Owned Enterprises Minister Duncan Webb announced that he had ordered an independent review into KiwiRail which would look into causes of the disruption across the country but largely focus on Wellington and the maintenance problems with the safety equipment.
Speaking to reporters after this week's Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said it was a core responsibility for KiwiRail to maintain the tracks and deliver timely and reliable services - and the disruption this week was not acceptable.
KiwiRail review will focus on 'critical systems failure'
Reidy said the focus of the KiwiRail review would be what appeared to have been a critical systems failure.
The Track Evaluation Car (TEC) was scheduled for essential repair work in early May, however the compliance period for the Kāpiti Line ended on 30 April and it was scheduled to assess the Wellington metro network in May.
The fact the TEC was not available to assess the Kāpiti Line within the compliance period was only raised with senior KiwiRail managers on 26 April, Reidy said.
Metlink/Transdev Wellington were contacted about the situation on Thursday 27 April after engineers determined a 70kmh speed limit would be necessary for safety reasons, he said.
"The TEC has worked in Wellington three times a year for decades without issue but a combination of a mechanical fault and maintenance/operational schedule issues has resulted in major disruptions to passengers.
"There have been obvious system failures within KiwiRail and we will be making changes."
The current TEC is 41 years old and KiwiRail would be looking to replace it, Reidy said.
"The new TEC will require less maintenance, have less downtime, and will therefore achieve higher productivity rates."
Given that KiwiRail had decided purchasing one new TEC along with good schedule management would be enough to meet work requirements on rail lines across New Zealand, he said.