**Press release** – Once again KiwiRail fails? Or is it a knee jerk reaction from Waka Kotahi?
This time the rail commuters from Hamilton are affected. The Te Huia train has been up against it since the Waikato Regional Council tried to get it started. Initially it was delayed by Covid then held out of the Auckland commuter network until a pathway could be found to allow it as far as The Strand. However, although still unable to make it all the way to Britomart the train has exceeded all expectations for passenger numbers and was growing.
Chair of the Public Transport Users Association (PTUA), Niall Robertson says, “This latest situation raises a number of questions for commuters, such as why has the Te Huia train been banned from Auckland, when other like trains are not?”
Waka Kotahi say that the Te Huia will be banned until it is fitted with a safety device known as ETCS (Electronic Train Control System) which can override a drivers inaction approaching a red light.
The PTUA therefore, questions why the Northern Explorer train and a myriad of freight trains are not required to use the ETCS system as well. Especially as the PTUA are led to believe that there have been 15 other incidents involving other trains.
Niall Robertson, asks why there couldn’t be alternatives used to mitigate this problem, such as a second crew member to pilot the train through the Auckland network to help call signals, or drivers being trained in mindfulness operating that is used successfully in Japan?
Jon Reeves, (PTUA National Coordinator) says, “Questions need to be asked why it will take so long for KiwiRail to fit the ETCS system into the locomotives”. Reeves asks, “Is this a logistic problem or is it a money problem? Because if it is the latter problem, then the government needs to stump up with some cash and get the job done!”
*Press release dated 12 July 23. Authorized by Niall Robertson Chair, Public Transport Users Association (PTUA)*
