Freight Study Comes Up Short On Bold Thinking
September 25th, 2008
The authors of the National Freight Demands Study have put the acid on any incoming Govt to beef up investment in the country’s rail network. It says higher axle loadings, alignment improvements on key sections of the network as well as further increases in tunnel clearances are needed for the national rail system to help meet the challenge of predicted growth in the national freight task over coming decades.
Maximise The Potential. For existing and potential rail freight users, the report’s findings will be welcome news but it does not suggest any radical overhaul of the rail network which in such a document might have been expected. Lifting axle loadings by almost 40% to 25 tonnes and suggesting alignment improvements are both expensive undertakings and surely begs the question. Why not go the whole hog and start to progressively replacing the network’s narrow gauge lines with world standard gauge? The additional extra cost of this is small compared with what the study is already suggesting and will help maximise the potential benefits.
Auckland-Tauranga First. Converting from narrow to standard gauge or at least dual gauging initially will allow much larger trains in terms of height and width able to carry heavier loads at faster speeds. Conversion could start with the Auckland to Tauranga corridor and include increasing the height of the Kaimai tunnel. This would allow the operation of double stack container trains between the port and South Auckland using technology used in North America and Aust. In addition, such an upgrade would allow the introduction of fast, regular, frequent passenger trains linking Tauranga, Hamilton and Auckland capable of taking the pressure off the upper North Island’s roading network. Such a bold move would finally start to bring NZ’s rail network up to speed.
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