If you are travelling by train, do you want to know the railway is safe? Obviously, you do. Luckily, track evaluation cars can provide precise technical information about the state of the track, meaning faults can be detected before they become dangerous.
The thing is, KiwiRail owns *one* track evaluation car. This vehicle, EM80, must regularly inspect a network spanning two islands and approximately 4,000 kilometres. Also, it’s over 40 years old.
To meet regulatory requirements, KiwiRail’s lonely old EM80 visits Wellington every four months. Essentially, each line has to get its Warrant of Fitness. The Kāpiti Line needed to be inspected by the start of May; the Hutt by 7 May. But it transpired that EM80 was being repaired in Auckland. Consequently, trains have had to observe speed restrictions this week, and fewer services can operate. Oops.
