National Rail Network
The national rail network (currently owned by a government arm, New Zealand Railways Corporation) was constructed largely by government entities from 1863 onwards. New Zealand's first public railway was opened in that year at Ferrymead. At its peak in the 1950s, about 100 different lines were operating around the country. There were large scale closures of branch railways in the 1960s and 70s. The network today covers approximately 3,898 km, all in 1067 mm gauge, most of which is in the three main trunk lines. From 1994 to 2003 the network was owned by Tranz Rail Ltd; prior to that time it was government owned. The network was partially protected from road transport competition until 1982.
Until the 1950s, most motive power on the national network was by steam locomotives. There were also three sections operated electrically at 1500 volts DC, of which only the Wellington suburban lines remain. Dieselisation began in the late 1940s with shunting engines; the first mainline locomotives were introduced in 1954. By the mid 1960s steam had virtually disappeared from the North Island but remained in the South Island until 1971. Since 1983, a small number of privately owned steam and diesel locomotives have been permitted to operate special trains on the national network. In 1988, a new electrification of the North Island Main Trunk between Palmerston North and Hamilton, at 25 kVAC, was commissioned into service. About 500 km of line is now electrified.
The national network has been the subject of major upgrading works on a number of occasions. The most major of these were the Tawa Deviation in Wellington, opened 1935; the Rimutaka Deviation in the Wairarapa, in 1955; and the Kaimai Deviation in the Bay of Plenty, in 1978. All of these involved major tunnelling works, of around 8 km each in the two latter cases. Significant infrastructure improvements were also carried out on the North Island Main Trunk in the mid 1980s as part of the electrification scheme.
New Zealand's most serious rail disaster occurred on Christmas Eve 1953, during the visit of Queen Elizabeth II, when a lahar washed away the bridge at Tangiwai. 151 lives were lost when the bridge collapsed as an express passenger train was crossing it.
See also: Tunnels in New Zealand
Governance
Some of the earliest lines were constructed by the provincial governments of NZ that were operating in the mid 19th century. After these were abolished, the lines were controlled by the central government. A few lines were privately built; only the Wellington and Manawatu Railway, which was nationalised in 1908, achieved any measure of success. In 1981 the Railways Department of the time was reformed into a Crown corporation, New Zealand Railways Corporation. This was reconstituted as New Zealand Rail Ltd in 1990 after large scale restructuring. NZ Rail was privatised in 1993.
Freight Operations
Most freight operations are now carried out by Australian private operator Toll Rail Ltd, formerly Tranz Rail Ltd, which bought NZ Rail Ltd from the NZ government in 1993. Since Tranz Rail was previously accused of forcing freight onto the roads, the government has required minimum level of freight tonnages for Toll Rail to keep its monopoly freight rights on most lines. In 2002, Tranz Rail Ltd introduced a controversial containerisation scheme which assumed that most freight would be carried in containers, which were carried on unit trains made up of fixed consists of flatdeck wagons. Container loading depots were constructed at the major freight terminals. Freight levels have now reached the level that they were at when the railway had a virtual monopoly, prior to 1993. After the 1982 deregulation a large level of rationalisation of freight facilities around the country occurred; many stations and smaller yards were closed and freight train services were sped up.
Passenger Operations
National passenger services are operated by Tranz Scenic 2001 Ltd, a private company partly owned by Australia's West Coast Railway and Toll Rail Ltd. Toll Rail also operates suburban passenger services in Wellington. International operator Connex has taken over the running of Auckland suburban services. In the heyday of passenger rail in the 1950s and 60s most provincial routes had railcar and locomotive hauled services, however there are now only five national passenger rail trains: the Overlander and Northerner between Auckland and Wellington; the Geyserland Express between Auckland and Rotorua, the Capital Express between Wellington and Palmerston North, the TranzCoastal between Picton and Christchurch, and the TranzAlpine between Christchurch and Greymouth. The Southerner, running from Christchurch to Dunedin and Invercargill, ceased running in 2002, as did the passenger services to Tauranga and Napier.
Four heritage rail operators, Railway Enthusiasts Society, Steam Incorporated, Mainline Steam Trust and Otago Excursion Train Trust own and operate their own carriage and (except for OETT) mainline certified steam or diesel locomotive fleets. These groups have operated special excursion trains on the national network since 1978, and have been allowed to use suitable locomotives to haul these trains since 1983. A small number of other groups have overhauled their own locomotives for mainline use with either heritage or public passenger carriages.
Renationalisation of Network
During the period of private ownership of the network by Tranz Rail Ltd, it was widely accused of diverting some freight to its road trucks and forcing other freight off its rail tracks. The company was also accused of deliberately running down some lines through lack of maintenance. The Midland Line which carries mostly coal from the West Coast to Lyttelton was assessed to be in a very poor state by the government safety body LTSA in 2003 and has needed major repairs since. Part of the reason often cited for these policies was the subsidies given to road transport that were not available to rail operators.
The company was also alleged to have denied reasonable access to the rail network by heritage operators, who were faced with a lack of access to certification resources and high charges that made their operations marginally economic at best. In recent years heritage groups have also faced increased bureacratic requirements in the arena of safety certification, as well as problems obtaining suitable public liability insurance.
In 2002, the shares in Tranz Rail Ltd dropped in value to a record low price as a result of the poor financial state of the company. The government then considered various schemes for bailing out the company in return for regaining control of the rail tracks. Cited reasons included moving freight traffic from road to rail, and ensuring free access to the tracks by all interested parties. In the event, Toll Rail of Australia made a takeover of Tranz Rail Ltd, subject to an earlier agreement to sell back the rail tracks to the government.
See also: List of New Zealand railway lines
Heritage and Museum Railways
About 60 groups operate rail heritage lines or museums around NZ. Almost all are members of the Federation of Rail Organisations of NZ and include street tramcars and bush tramways as well as railways. Large scale rail preservation in NZ got underway in the 1960s when many steam locomotives were withdrawn and branch lines closed.
Rail museums in NZ usually focus around storage and displays of rolling stock with a short line of approx 1 km or more in length on which trains are operated. This covers most of the historic rail groups in NZ. A smaller number of lines are operated as heritage railways, usually on a closed section of a former national network branch line. Typically these lines are longer, usually 5 km or more, and most of their activities are focused on train operations with less emphasis on display and storage.
Current operations of the heritage railway type include the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway, Glenbrook Vintage Railway, Bush Tramway Club, Waitara Railway Preservation Society, Weka Pass Railway and Taieri Gorge Railway. The Taieri Gorge Railway, which is operated as a Local Authority Trading Enterprise of the Dunedin City Council, is 60 km in length, making it the most ambitious project of its type to date. All other lines are operated by voluntary societies. The Weka Pass Railway at 13 km is the most lengthy of these; although the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway is 11 km in length, it is in poor condition and has been closed since 2002.
See also: List of New Zealand railway museums and heritage lines
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