A morning of chaos on Wellington trains
As rail users struggle through a nightmare commute, politicians are blasting an ‘unacceptable’ situation that ‘beggars belief’.
Mōrena and welcome to The Bulletin for Monday, May 1 by Catherine McGregor. Presented in partnership with Z Energy.
In today’s edition: Upper North Island storms arrive in Auckland, Coromandel and the Bay of Plenty; National says it will pay student loans for nurses and midwives who commit to stay; Penlink highway to be tolled. But first, another bad week for Kiwirail as Wellington train services are halved.
A bad day to be a Wellington train commuter
It was only last Wednesday that we reported on a survey showing Aucklanders have never been less satisfied with their public transport service. Two days later, Kiwirail said to Auckland Transport: hold my beer. On Friday it was announced that Wellington’s Metlink train services would be severely reduced – potentially for weeks – because Kiwirail’s track evaluation car, the only one in the country, had broken down, forcing a blanket 70 kph speed restriction on the Kāpiti line and creating flow-on effects across most of the network from today. Daran Ponter, chair of the Greater Wellington Regional Council, which runs Metlink, called it a “monumental failure” by the state owned enterprise. “It’s not clear how long Kiwirail have known about this but to only give Wellington three or four days’ notice before the restrictions are in place is simply ludicrous.” On Saturday, Kiwirail said disruptions should now last less than a week, after mechanics were able to fix the evaluation car more quickly than expected. Kiwirail has also apologised to commuters for the problems.
An ‘unacceptable’ situation that ‘beggars belief’
The revised timeline is a relief, but questions are still being raised about how the go-slow was allowed to happen in the first place. Transport minister Michael Wood says the disruptions are “unacceptable” and he has expressed his displeasure to those in charge. “All options are being explored to reinstate services as quickly as possible, and assurances will be put in place to prevent this from happening again.” Wood has summoned Kiwirail executives to the Beehive this morning to explain what went wrong and how they plan to address it. National’s transport spokesperson Simeon Brown says the situation “beggars’ belief” and is calling on the government to “move heaven and earth to do whatever it takes to fix this problem and then urgently order an independent inquiry to get to the bottom of what has happened”.
For some commuters, better days are on the horizon
It’s not all bad news for Wellington rail. Over the weekend The Post – the newly rebranded Dominion Post – reported that the government is to buy a fleet of 18 hybrid trains to run on the Kāpiti and Wairarapa lines into the capital. The government declined to reveal how much it was spending on the trains, but The Post understands it could be in the “high hundreds of millions”. A fortnight ago on the website of the campaign group Save Our Trains, Darren Davis & Malcolm McCracken wrote about the poor state of the network serving Wairarapa and the Kāpiti Coast north of Waikanae. The Capital Connection from Palmerston North to Wellington “is on life support and being patched up with refurbished rolling stock from the 1970s to keep it limping along for a few more years”, they wrote, while Wairarapa trains “are out of capacity and also in urgent need of an upgrade”. Both lines are set for major improvements when the new trains arrive.
Meanwhile, on the ferries…
For Kiwirail, the rail track breakdown is another headache in what has already been a very bad year. Interislander services are getting back to normal after its Kaitaki ferry resumed sailings in mid-April, but the passenger strandings caused by the ferry’s two-month suspension – along with a number of other issues – may have a long-lasting effect on the Interislander brand. Kiwirail does not expect to take delivery of replacement ships for its ageing fleet until 2025, and while their arrival will be welcomed by passengers and freight operators, some Picton residents are worried about the massive size of the new “mega-ferries”. “If something goes wrong here, it's going to be carnage,” warned Tim Healey of watchdog group Guardians of the Sounds.
The crucial steps to supply fuel in the face of a disaster
The logistics of keeping fuel pumping when key infrastructure is down requires many hands.
As Cyclone Gabrielle's destruction was ongoing, Z Energy worked to find alternative routes to deliver fuel to regions that were cut off and adjust delivery schedules and plans when the power was out at their Napier terminal.
Read the full story of how Z worked to keep the worst-hit regions fuelled, and the work that goes into making that process as smooth as possible, on The Spinoff now. (Sponsored)
Heavy rains, wind affecting upper North Island
The storms have abated in Northland, with Coromandel and the western Bay of Plenty now bearing the brunt of the subtropical low that is slowly moving south. Auckland appears to have escaped the worst of the weather but commuters this morning are contending with heavy rain. Motorists heading into the city centre from West Auckland face a challenging commute, according to the Herald, with reports of surface flooding and congested traffic on the motorway. “On top of what’s on the road, the wind is driving sheets of torrential rain, reducing visibility. That’s the worst part,” a driver reports. Meanwhile State Highway 1 remains closed to southbound traffic between Warkworth & Wellsford following a large slip on the Dome Valley road on Sunday afternoon.
National promises to help pay student loans of nurses who stay in NZ
A National government will contribute up to $4500 a year towards the student loans of newly qualified nurses and midwives in return for a commitment to work in New Zealand for at least five years. The policy is among a suite of initiatives aimed at addressing worker shortages in the health sector announced by leader Christopher Luxon on Sunday, reports the Herald. “Others include allowing nurses to come on six-month visas to look for a job in cases where they do not have a job offer in hand and offering relocation grants to up to 1000 nurses coming from overseas.” The CEO of White Cross, where the announcement was made, says the policy is a step in the right direction but more will be needed to keep nurses here. “I am aware of nurses [in Australia] being offered retention bonuses of up to $AUD 20,000, so the announcement today in that context isn’t that attractive for a young nurse,” says Dr Alastair Sullivan.
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Penlink motorway to be tolled – report
Drivers will have to pay to use the new O Mahurangi-Penlink road north of Auckland, Stuff reports. Transport minister Michael Wood is expected to make the announcement that the road is to be tolled later this morning. There has been public consultation on drivers paying “between $3 and $4 per trip depending on the time of day and ‘heavy’ vehicles potentially having to pay up to $8”, although no fee structure has yet been confirmed. Work on the $830m highway connecting State Highway 1 to the Whangaparāoa Peninsula is scheduled to start in October, with a projected completion date of late 2026.
Click and collect
A light “the size of an armchair” above a walkway on Bowen St, central Wellington, fell to the ground on Sunday after its base apparently rusted through, reports Stuff.
Dunedin City Council is losing road cones worth $40,000 a year from its George Street upgrade project, Critic reports.
Animal rights activists around the country rallied to celebrate the first day of the livestock export ban on Sunday.
Military veteran Willie Apiata has raised $220,000 for cyclone-impacted communities on the East Coast, where he grew up.
More than 1000 years of annual leave is owed to New Zealand's senior doctors and four centuries’ worth to junior doctors, The Post (paywalled) reports. Doctors say severe short-staffing means requests for time off are being declined sometimes as much as six months in advance.
Got some feedback about The Bulletin, or anything in the news? Get in touch with me at thebulletin@thespinoff.co.nz.
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