Electric locos

*Disclaimer: all views are entirely personal and do not necessarily reflect the views of Kiwirail, TranzMetro, the RMTU, or any other player in the rail indsutry.*

First of all, thanks to everyone who read my first post about saving the Capital Connection! I'm glad to have some friendly readers :)

I've just finished playing a gig with the Julie Lamb Band at Hotel Bristol for the Cuba Dupa festival, and now I'm eating Midnight Espresso's famous vegan nachoes before I head to another gig with another band, Sophie and the Realistic Expectations, in Roseneath. No rest for the wicked.....

While eating, I opened the Dom Post and saw that the main article on page 2 was about Kiwirail - specifically, their proposal to replace the electric EF class locomotives with dirt cheap Chinese diesel locos instead of replacing or upgrading the EFs. Here's the link to the article:

http://pressreader.com/new-zealand/the-dominion-post/20150328/281517929619606/TextView

RMTU general secretary Wayne Butson was swift to point out the impact this could have on hundreds of jobs, and Labour's Phil Twyford explained how this was a "retrograde step for the environment". Excellent! Both of these people were 100% correct about this. But why is Kiwirail even considering this move when their senior team must have known they would meet these reactions?

There are two reasons: first of all, Kiwirail - like all other SOEs - has a mandate of turning a profit for the Government, and that's it. Rather than being tasked with reducing New Zealand's emissions and reducing road congestion, they are tasked with making money. This is very typical of the era of neo-liberal Government we are currently experiencing: 'reduce your expenditure, increase your profit, what's an externality? Never heard of it!' The other reason is that Kiwirail is being chronically underfunded by the current National Government. Unlike other Tories in the Anglosphere who see the benefits of rail (in Britian, the Tories are even trying to build a white elephant rich man's railway being opposed by none other than the Greens!), National are at the beck and call of the trucking lobby who regularly funnel them donations with the expectation of gold plated highways to nowhere in return. Typical National Party politics, nothing we're not used to.....

Kiwirail's freight service is essential to the efficient movement of goods across New Zealand. Trains are capable of pulling vast amounts more tonnage than trucks, and can do so much more safely. They have their own separate infrastructure, which not only allows movement of freight despite road congestion but also relieves congestion for other road users. Despite these clear benefits, rail is not given the investment it deserves. 

Upgrading and/or replacing the electric locos will be more expensive than buying the dirt cheap Chinese locos, but there's a reason for that - electric locos are high quality, clean, and efficient, whereas cheap Chinese diesel locos are dirty and of less quality. Investing in world class electric locos would require a higher upfront cost, but would be very beneficial to the nation by reducing our fossil fuel import bill, reducing carbon emissions, and from running on cheap NZ made renewable electricity. A Government that cared about climate change, air pollution, and reducing our oil addiction would see this and offer to get the locos for Kiwirail. 

Kiwirail group general manager Iain Hill made a good point in the article: "...electrification only covers one-tenth of the rail freight network, and journeys between Auckland and Wellington require two locomotive changes..." He is absolutely correct, but his response to these facts is wrong. Rather than using those facts as justification for more dirty diesel locos, Kiwirail should be advocating for a complete electrification of the rail network, starting with the unfinished areas between Auckland-Hamilton and Palmerston North-Wellington. Unfortunately, he has no mandate to do this. His job is to help Kiwirail make money for the Government, and not to consider the externalities and consequences of these kinds of decisions. Labour Transport Spokesman Phil Twyford was able to offer the necessary words though: "...To de-electrify a critically important part of the network would be turning the clock back to the 19th century. If this is being done at the behest of bean-counters, it is really a hare-brained scheme." I couldn't agree more. 

So what needs to change here? Ideally Kiwirail would be considering more than just their bottom line, but due to Government policy and continual underfunding they have no mandate to. That leaves the National Government with the task of defending the climate, our air quality, and our huge oil import bill against this decision. Bugger. 

Save the Capital Connection

*Disclaimer: all views are entirely personal and do not necessarily reflect the views of Kiwirail, TranzMetro, the RMTU, or any other player in the rail indsutry.*

In September of 1995, my family arrived in New Plymouth after emigrating half way around the world from Wales. I lived there until I moved to Wellington for university, and for a while after that my family stayed there. For the last few years however, my Dad has lived in Palmerston North. This has been great for me, because I've been able to catch the Capital Connection to go visit him, my stepmother, and my young half-brother. 

The Capital Connection is the only non TranzMetro service that receives a Kiwirail staff discount of 75%, meaning I can get a return trip to Palmerston North for under $20. Even without this discount though, the cost of the journey plus its ease and facilities (on board bar, woo!) makes it a very attractive service for connecting between Wellington and Palmerston North. Both times I have stowed my bike in the luggage van and then cycled the short distance from the station on one end of town to my Dad's house on the other side, and then done it all in reverse to get home again. Taking Palmerston North's generous (well, versus Wellington!) cycle lanes into account, travelling to Palmerston North without resorting to a car becomes a very attractive option when this service is available. Unfortunately, the Capital Connection is being threatened with termination for some really stupid reasons.

According to Kiwrail, the Capital Connection is set to run at a loss of around $700,000 in 2015-16 if Kiwirail has to fund the service alone (http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/67474959/Regional-council-considers-subsidy-for-Capital-Connection-in-budget). Given Kiwirail's extremely tight budget due to the Government's reluctance to invest in rail, and the short-sighted requirement for SOE's to do nothing more than make a profit, it makes perfect sense for Kiwirail to axe the service in this scenario. If no one else came to the party on funding the service, I would reluctantly agree with Kiwirail - there are a lot of essential repairs to the Wellington network alone that could be achieved with that money. However, that isn't the point - the point is that the Capital Connection is being treated as part of Kiwirail's 'Scenic Journeys' network, when it is anything but. 

The Capital Connection is undoubtedly a commuter service. The vast majority of its passengers are commuters, and as for the scenery there really isn't that much to see. Maybe that's because I grew up in the 'Naki and I'm used to seeing endless farmland, but honestly there's nothing particularly scenic about that journey. The real service it provides is a fast, efficient, catered service between two of New Zealand's major cities. This type of rail service is extremely common in other parts of the world, particularly Europe. By connecting two cities via a transport corridor which is entirely separate to the road infrastructure it is possible to promote commerce, reduce congestion, and expand the range of housing options available to people. Tory Governments in Australia and the UK are quite willing to invest billions of dollars/pounds in rail infrastructure because they recognise the importance of using rail to relieve road congestion. National seem to have missed the Tory memo on this however, and are hellbent on pouring endless dollars into uneconomic roading projects while doing their best to ignore the rail network entirely. Those trucking industry campaign donations are hard at work!

So why haven't the New Zealand Transport Agency included the Capital Connection in their commuter network subsidy before? I've no idea, but I suspect a Transport Minister or Chief Executive in their infinite wisdom at some point saw it as a way to save money. Either way, NZTA are now (potentially, upon various conditions) willing to come to the party on part funding the Capital Connection alongside the two regional councils who benefit from the service - Horizons Regional Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council. According to the article linked above, Horizons and GWRC would fund a quarter each of the projected shortfall while NZTA would fund half - that will mean approximately $175,000 for each regional council and $350,000 for NZTA based on the $700,000 shortfall figure. This figure could potentially be closer to $500,000 though.

On the 24th of March, Horizons Regional Council voted unanimously to fund the subsidy up to a maximum of $110,000 a year for 5 years. The fact that the vote was unanimous is an extremely important signal to central Government that the people of Palmerston North and Manawatu want this rail link sustained. However, $110,000 will potentially fall slightly short of a quarter of the service's current shortfall. Based on a shortfall of only $500,000 Horizons would need to front $125,000 a year. The extra $15,000 could probably be found if needed, but hopefully NZTA would pick up slightly more than half of the tab to cover this instead in recognition of the unanimous vote achieved by the council. As far as I'm aware, GWRC haven't voted on this matter yet but the article states that: "A spokesperson for Greater Wellington Regional Council said no provision had been made in its draft Long Term Plan for a subsidy to fund the train."

On the whole, it looks as though the service will potentially survive beyond its current termination date mid 2015. This is not an inevitability however - many people have been making a concerted effort to retain the service for their communities. A group called Save the Capital Connection have launched a strong campaign to retain this vital link. You can check out their facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/SaveTheCapitalConnection?fref=ts and their website here: http://www.savethecapitalconnection.nz/ There are many things you can do to help them out, such as signing letters and sharing promotional material through social media. Labour MP for Palmerston North Ian Less-Galloway has also been advocating very strongly for the service - see here: http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/67454685/Campaign-to-save-Capital-Connection-train-service and here: http://www.iainleesgalloway.co.nz/blog?view=47

New Zealand's rail network could be doing so much more for us if central Government were willing to invest more into it. We have the bones (although some of them are in need of some TLC) but now we need the muscle - we need central Government to invest in services that connect New Zealanders with each other, relieve road congestion, and reduce C02 emissions. That means subsidising commuter services which connect our provinces; purchasing, upgrading, and maintaining modern commuter carriages; and upgrading and maintaining our rail infrastructure so it can perform at its optimum. Please lend your support to Ian Lees-Galloway and the Save the Capital Connection campaign so we can retain this vital rail link!

*31/03/2015 Edit: Typical Central Wellingtonite aye...I completely forgot to add that the Capital Connection serves as an essential rail link for the towns it connects between Palmerston North and Waikanae, which is where the Wellington suburban network terminates. Otaki is part of the Wellington region, yet it has been left out of the network with electrification ending in Waikanae. Otaki needs a rail connection to Wellington, and the Capital Connection is the only one it's got! A separate blog post will be coming about this quite soon anyway though.*

Introduction

*Disclaimer: all views are entirely personal and do not necessarily reflect the views of Kiwirail, TranzMetro, the RMTU, or any other player in the rail indsutry.*

Hi! My name is Geraint Scott and I'm a Locomotive Engineer (train driver) for TranzMetro in Wellington, New Zealand. I really love my job, and I think TranzMetro provide a great work environment, but there are things here - and in the wider rail network around New Zealand - that need to change for it to run at its optimum. 

As of starting this blog on 25th March 2015, I've been employed with TranzMetro for barely more than a year - I worked as a Passenger Operator (ticket clipper) for three months before landing my current job as an LE. Compare this to the tenure of some of the other drivers at TranzMetro (it's fairly common to see drivers with 20 years experience, and even 30 or 40 years is not out of the question!) and it's fair to say that I'm not particularly experienced in the job. However, in the short time I've been here I've seen, heard, and learnt a fair bit and I'm learning more all the time. I want to combine what I'm learning in the industry with my passion for public transport, smart Green economics, transport safety, stronger unions, and combating climate change. 

I'm going to cover a range of topics here. Some will be directly connected with the rail industry in New Zealand, others more loosely so, and others again not at all but rather just burning interest of mine. But there will be plenty of rail talk!

I'd love to get input from other people, particularly those involved in or passionate about the rail industry! Comment on a post so we can engage with each other :)