The Minister of Transport, Steven Joyce, said yesterday that some railway lines will probably be closed. The line between Napier and Gisborne, the northern Wairarapa line and the inland Taranaki line usually have just one train a week. It is possible that more logs from forests could be carried on the Napier Gisborne line to keep the line open. If communities want railway lines to stay open, they have to find businesses which will use the lines. For example, Fonterra is now using more trains to carry milk to dairy factories.
Most trains in New Zealand are used to carry freight: coal, milk, dairy products, logs and steel. They also carry containers of goods to and from the ports.
One of the problems with the inland Taranaki line is that it was damaged last year and is still not repaired. For 15 years, New Zealand rail was owned by private companies. The Labour government bought back the rail and called it KiwiRail in 2008. A lot of money is now needed for repairs to the tracks and for new trains. Most trains are about 30 years old.
Problems with repairing tracks in Wellington have caused delays for passengers recently. In the last 6 months of 2008, there were 6 million trips on the Wellington commuter trains. In the last 6 months of 2009, this had dropped to 5.6 million and this year passenger numbers are down again. Many people are choosing to travel by car or bus instead.
However, KiwiRail says that the work they are doing on the Auckland and Wellington railways is the first major work since the railway began there. When it has finished, they hope passengers will return. Auckland will have 20 new electric trains. The Auckland railways will all be electric in the future.
Listen to March 2nd 2009 for more information about KiwiRail.
Questions to think about
What is the advantage of electric trains?
Should Auckland and Wellington ratepayers subsidise rail in their area?
How can communities encourage businesses to use rail?