Derailment report highlights underfunding and climate change risks

Sustainability & Technology

A report out this morning about the derailment of a passenger train in 2021 has highlighted the ongoing risks of under investment in early warning systems and responsiveness to severe weather events brought on by climate change.

Daran Ponter, Chair of Greater Wellington, welcomed the report from the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) which highlighted the need for KiwiRail to improve its preparation for and responsiveness to severe weather events.

"Greater Wellington has advocated for more resilience and safety upgrades to KiwiRail and to the Government over a number of years, including briefings to Ministers when this Government came into power in 2023," says Cr Ponter.

As the frequency of severe weather events increases, risk assessments for transport infrastructure become vital to ensure hazards are identified and appropriate controls are applied.

“Our rail corridors have a history of under-investment. Safety and resilience measures for our region need to be fit for purpose and acknowledge a network with challenging topographical features such as steep unstable rock hills, deep valleys, blind corners, narrow channels - which can all be compromised by severe weather events brought on by climate change,” adds Cr Ponter.

The TAIC report noted that engineering systems and real-time monitoring can assist with providing those in the transport sector with accurate information from which to make timely and informed safety decisions.

The slope that caused the derailment has had debris barriers installed since the incident as part of the Wellington Metro Upgrade Programme.

KiwiRail have also installed tilt sensors and cameras to enable remote monitoring of slopes between Pukerua Bay and Paekākāriki and will be installing more of them this year in other vulnerable sections on the Wellington network.

In addition, KiwiRail has adopted a new Severe Weather Trigger Action Response Plan which addresses concerns raised in the report over the response to moderate or heavy rainfall over a short period. The plan means that when set weather thresholds are met, KiwiRail completes supplementary track inspections to ensure the network is safe.

In May 2023, Chair of Greater Wellington Daran Ponter wrote to the board of KiwiRail with concerns around fragilities and critical risks on the Wellington metro network including single point failures, slope instability, signals and end-of-life assets. Read more here(external link).