Briefing to Incoming Minister: Kiwirail

The Government has released the BIM documents that show the information that incoming ministers have received on various portfolios and areas of responsibility. This is a summary and commentary on the BIM for Kiwirail, which can be read here.

The Kiwirail BIM is a straightforward document that sets out the history of the organisation and its achievements to date. The most relevant part for policy formation for the incoming document is best located in the sections headed "Challenges" and "Opportunities" on pages 16-17.

The listed challenges include :

• Digital disruption, including big data, smart data, AI and automation.
• North Island population growth resulting in increased demand for commuter services.
• Shifts in international freight flows.
• Volatile international commodity markets.
• Environmental and sustainability issues.
• Reinstating the Main North Line after the Kaikoura Earthquake to its full capacity for customers.
• Ageing rolling stock impacting the reliability of services.
• Alignment with unions on strategic priorities to drive productivity.
• Shareholder alignment on rail policy and funding mechanisms.
• Competitively servicing the market and providing resilience across Cook Strait.
• Building risk based systems and worker participation to deliver a step change for health and safety performance.
• Attracting and retaining talent in a competitive market to mitigate Kiwirail's ageing workforce.
• Growing use of passenger rail
• Crucial need of a long term funding profile to support longer term decision making on simplifying the business, standardising assets  and investing in people to support growth strategies.

A summary of the key points could include: the need for funding certainty (subsidies), commuter and passenger service capability, maintaining rolling stock, attracting young people to work for Kiwirail.

While opportunities include:

• Domestic freight market modal share growth
• New freight sectors such as fuel transportation
• Inland hubs/IMEX ports
• Maximising property less revenue and divesting non-rail required land
• HPHE with unions to drive productivity engagements
• Regional commuter rail services such as Auckland to Hamilton
• Common user terminal approach for Cook Strait ferries
• Auckland Network Integrated Operating Model
• Highlighting Kiwirail's sustainability story and contribution to regional economies

Some of the issues which are not mentioned and which should be brought into the debate include: Whether the achievements of key development strategies like the Turnaround Plan and Commercial Review have the right balance in terms of commercial strategies and policies for Kiwirail. Examples of key decisions that have been included in these challenges that are open to question include:

• Reducing capacity in the rail freight ferry operations by choosing not to replace withdrawn rail ferries
• De-electrifying the North Island Main Trunk
• Large scale contracting out of key maintenance services such as locomotive and rolling stock overhauls and track construction and maintenance.

It remains to be seen whether the current board is capable of revisiting some of these decisions should the government choose to highlight some of these issues. Kiwirail would probably say the previous administration failed to guarantee enough funding to ensure the historic operational models of these services could be maintained.

The operation of commuter services is largely driven through local government administration of the development and partial funding of them although NZTA funds a percentage of these services. At present Kiwirail does not operate many of these services but does provide the infrastructure they run on.

During the term of the previous administration only a few rail lines were downgraded or stopped operating. Key among them was the Napier to Gisborne line and the North Auckland line. The PNGL is to be considered for re-opening while funding for an upgrade of the North Auckland route has already been announced. The government has announced a focus on regional rail development but it seems unlikely lines like Rotorua Branch and SOL would be re-opened in future.

Kiwirail has claimed that non-rail related land should be divested. A key question is where this land is located. Anything that is either a present day or former rail corridor should not be divested.

Kiwirail is only of a number of transport modes in New Zealand and it remains to be seen what the best fit on a case by case basis will be for a range of different options including road and sea transport.

Why the Auckland regional petrol tax is a total crock

As we all know the Mayor of Auckland Phil Goff has championed the idea of a regional fuel tax to fund transport projects for Auckland Council. This was rejected by the National government but Labour has kowtowed to the demand. Frankly it is a total crock and the question is why pretend that it is not just another rate under another name. The issue is that everyone will pay it regardless of their circumstances. It has been estimated that it will cost motorists $500 a year each which is about $10 a week. For some people on low incomes that will be a struggle to pay.

But not only that, people who live close to the city limits will be able to avoid paying the tax by driving across the boundary to fill up their cars, and in fact new petrol stations are being set up just outside the Auckland Council boundaries for this very purpose. So it is indeed possible to avoid paying this extra fuel tax.

The question should really go back to the increases in fuel taxes under the National government (another of their broken promises about taxation). Labour has kept very quiet about the fact that by cancelling Roads of National Significance projects they are still collecting this massive windfall of petrol tax that National imposed to pay for these projects. They should actually be funding the transport projects in Auckland themselves now that they are not building so many motorways there.

The St Asaph St controversy and why adding cycle lanes to an existing road can fail

There has been vast controversy over the redesign of Christchurch's St Asaph St to add off-road cycle lanes. A part of this, and the heated discussion over Wellington's Island Bay cycleway, illustrate how difficult it is to add these off road cycleways to an existing road with driveways coming out onto the street where parked cars and buildings close to the kerb can block visibility of the cycle lanes for vehicles turning into and out of these driveways. 

The answer of the traffic planners has been to try to force drivers to slow down by making the turns ever tighter to get in and out of these driveways. This is simply likely to cause problems with vehicles driving over the kerbing if they can't get round the corners. The result will simply be a lot of money spent unnecessarily on repairing these kerbs.

There appears to be insufficient traffic enforcement as a car yard in the street had parked many of their vehicles illegally at the time I visited the site, such as on top of traffic islands. Handing out a few tickets would solve that one. The biggest issue that has not been addressed is the narrowness of both the parking lanes and the traffic lanes.

The design process is appalling but typical of transport planners who try to socially engineer traffic behaviour all over Christchurch. An example being a roundabout which completely blocked the view for traffic by having trees and shrubs planted in the middle, this was supposed to calm traffic for a safer driving experience. 

In order to fix the issue at St Asaph St, quite simply, is to have:

• On street parking, if there is any, only one side of the street (the right side as you drive down it). Does not impede the view of the cycle lane, and does not require a buffer zone between parked cars and cycle lanes (to allow for people to get into and out of cars) which saves space.
• Off road cycle lane only on the left side of the street. 
• Make sure those trees planted next to the cycle lane never get big enough to block the view of cyclists in the lanes.
• Make sure the footpaths on that side are wide enough so that cars coming out of driveways have a reasonable view of oncoming cyclists and enough time to stop. Put up caution signs at all the driveway entrances and exits.

The cycleways along the side of Colombo St work much better, and one of the key reasons is there are no car parks alongside them and no driveways going off the street into premises. When you go down St Asaph St it is quite a different design, and those differences have not been fully appreciated by planners.