Expect more investment in New Zealand rail, transport minister Phil Twyford says.
His comments come off the back of a recently released report showing an annual cost saving of around $1.5 billion as a result of the country’s train networks.
It includes more than $1.3b total saving in reduced congestion, more than $60m in safety benefits, more than $60m in maintenance benefits and around $9m in emissions benefits.
Passenger rail in Auckland and Wellington contributes 77% of the total value outlined in the report and freight rail throughout the country adds 23%.
The research, carried out by consultancy firm EY and commissioned by the New Zealand Transport Agency, showed those factors added “significant” value to the economy.
A “conservative approach” was used in its data, the report says. Its findings were only recently released although it was completed in 2016.
Twyford says the previous government had been sitting on the results for political reasons.
“This study underlines the reasons for the Labour-led Government’s plans to boost investment in rail – both in our cities and in the regions.
“Rail is a great way to travel and move cargo. It takes both passengers and freight off the roads, improving the travel experience of road users and reducing their costs.
“For too long, rail has been on life support – starved of government funding.
“The Labour-led Government will restore balance to transport funding, boosting investment in rail infrastructure both for passengers and freight.
“This will include significant investment in regional rail via the Regional Development Fund, as set out in the Labour-New Zealand First coalition agreement.”
Twyford says establishing a light rail network in Auckland will significantly increase the $1.3b a year of benefits that road users, including freight companies, experience from reduced congestion.
KiwiRail chairman Trevor Janes says many benefits of rail don’t always “show up on the balance sheet” but they make a “huge contribution to New Zealand”.
The benefits also “far exceed what the taxpayer is spending on rail,” he says.
“They need to be considered when choices are made about the transport options available and how to allocate resources.
“Rail is taking cars off the road and it’s taking trucks off the road. That is saving the country $1.3 billion a year because it cuts congestion for all road users, including other freight movers.
“The study found that without rail there would be the equivalent of an additional 100,000 daily car trips on our roads each year – 76 million light vehicle hours reduced through rail – and 57 million of those hours were on Auckland roads.
“Rail also means heavy vehicles such as trucks are on the roads for 11 million fewer hours each year – the equivalent of 30,000 trucks driving for an hour every day.”
Meanwhile, Road Transport Forum chief executive Ken Shirley says trucks and trains are simply “just a tool” for the business of “moving stuff”.
“Transparent pricing” for modes best suited to the task is the key, he says.
Having the National Land Transport Fund pay for large rail infrastructure projects would be “a real kick in the teeth to motorists and the road transport industry” unless there were fair pricing models.
“While rail freight has a very important role to play, it doesn’t have the same flexibilities road transport freight enjoys.”
Geographic and time flexibilities are some examples, he says.
“You’ve got to have trucks at both origin and destination … trains can’t work without trucks.”
