017/24

Recommendation Date
Recipient Name
NZTA
Text
On 25 September 2024, the Commission recommended that NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi work with rail operators to assess the benefits of all rail operators on the Auckland rail network using a common engineering safety system to improve the safety of all users of that network.
Reply Text
We note that this recommendation is a duplicate of 036/23 which was assigned to (and accepted by) KiwiRail following the Commission’s investigation into the L71 Mainline Shunt derailment and subsequent rollover at Tamaki, 01 June 2022 (Report RO-2022-102). An update by KiwiRail in the recent Transport Sector Activity Report Status Update on TAIC Safety Recommendations for 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024 confirmed that; the extension of ETCS for freight locomotives in the Auckland Metro network is underway by KiwiRail.

The benefits of using a common engineering safety system to improve the safety to all users of the Auckland Metro network are clear, they have been assessed, and steps are in hand to realise those benefits. NZTA will maintain oversight of this rollout through routine safety assessments and specific requests to KiwiRail for project progress reports.
Related Investigation(s)