Temporary speed restrictions are used to manage the safety of train operations when a general deterioration in track condition is identified. KiwiRail Network's codes and standards consider track geometry faults such as cant, twist, line, top and rate of change of cant deficiency separately when determining the appropriate speed value.
The Commission recommends that the Chief Executive of the NZ Transport Agency work with KiwiRail to make changes to the codes and standards relating to imposing temporary speed restrictions. Multiple track faults within the same section of track should be considered collectively when determining if a temporary speed restriction needs to be imposed before track repairs are made. (018/11)
