By Ross Clark

​A big part of how we grow the rail industry is in seeing passengers shift from flying to using the train. But to understand how to do that we first need to understand where the domestic aviation industry has got to over the years, and why. My working paper deals with three issues in that respect:
 

• the size of the industry as it stood in 2019

 

• when and also how it got to be as large as it has, and

 

• where the sector is currently

 
The analysis of the current situation included what the busy routes are, and where there is scope there is to easily shift traffic onto more sustainable modes.
 
There are also passing comments on the resulting policy issues.
 

Credit:   ZK-BXG in National Airways Corporation/Air New Zealand Hybrid Livery. (Peter Lewis Photo)

The Future Is Rail: Reconnecting Aotearoa 2030 Conference will be held in Wellington on 28 June. The conference aims to get all the key decision makers in one room to envisage the future for regional, inter-regional and long-distance passenger rail in New Zealand.

Conference Chair and former Greater Wellington Regional Councillor, Dr Roger Blakeley says, “the conference provides an opportunity to develop a shared vision for rebuilding passenger rail across New Zealand that encompasses the diverse markets of regional, inter-regional, and long-distance trains. These services can help create a resilient and sustainable future.”

“While there is currently a focus on rebuilding connections within devastated communities, passenger rail is vital in reducing carbon emissions, promoting economic development, and increasing mobility choices for all New Zealanders. Emission reductions brought about by new mobility options in our largest cities are important, but we also need to cater for those living in regional New Zealand,” says Dr Blakeley.

Nationwide passenger rail requires coordination between central government, local government, business, and communities served. The conference on 28 June will include key players in forging a strategy for expanding rail in NZ.

“We are delighted to be able to bring together a rich agenda and an excellent line up of speakers. We hope that this event will mark the beginning of a comprehensive strategy for the future of passenger rail in New Zealand,” says Dr Blakeley.

​Contact:
Dr Roger Blakeley, Conference Chair
roger.blakeley@outlook.com
021 229 6928

By Darren Davis

The government has announced it will shift planned regional public transport investment to the five biggest cities: Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch. While it's vital to invest more in biggest cities' public transport, this must not be at the expense of the regions.

On March 9th Darren Davis, Technical Director for Public Transport, MRCagney Pty Ltd, published an article exploring wider visions for transport resilience. Darren will be a speaker at our The Future is Rail conference in June.
 
Here is his article republished

May you live in interesting times: this saying is offered up as both a challenge and a curse and each form rings true in Aotearoa New Zealand this year. We are facing multiple challenges – what some describe as a ‘polycrisis’ – from long-term challenges like providing affordable housing at scale in ways that ease the grip of car-dependence, to the urgent need to repair damage wrought across the motu by Auckland’s recent flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle.  
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Meanwhile, our transport networks have been put to the test. There have been two instances in as many weeks of interislander ferries losing power in Te Moana a Raukawa Cook Strait, and entire communities and regions are cut off because roads have been damaged by slips and flooding. All of a sudden, it’s startlingly clear how difficult it will be for Aotearoa to simply adapt to climate change, let alone effectively address it. 

We risk responding to front-of-mind events like those of the last few weeks with a band-aid approach that prioritising shoring up vulnerable roading links. But just patching over road damage will not improve our transport resilience in the long term. Although our state highway network is certainly crucial for moving goods and people, especially to the most isolated parts of Aotearoa, reliance on single links without redundancy is an issue and a challenge. 

Our vulnerability is partly the consequence of an almost exclusive focus on driving and flying ahead of other modes of transport. When both are disrupted, as happened this month, Aotearoa risks coming to a halt.  
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The value of rail to Aotearoa’s supply chain was highlighted when the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake closed SH1, the Inland Kaikōura Road, and the Main North Line railway. In order to shift trucks off alternative road connections, the restoration of the Main North Line was prioritised. Transporting more freight by rail meant that fragile local road connections were under less pressure from heavy vehicles and bought time to repair the damage to SH1. 

Since the Anniversary Weekend flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle, road access to Te Tai Tokerau Northland has been hindered by a slip on SH1 on the south side of the Brynderwyns, and rail access by slips on the North Auckland Line. In the Eastern Bay of Plenty, logs cannot get to the Port of Tauranga due to flood-induced damage to the East Coast Main Trunk Line. In Auckland and Wellington, metro rail networks are similarly vulnerable. In Wellington a single-track railway line sits precariously against a cliff face between Pukerua Bay and Paekākāriki (while billions of dollars have been spent on providing a more resilient roading route north), and in Auckland a programme is underway to progressively rebuild its rail network from the ground up.  
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We need to invest in the resilience of our national rail network as well as the state highway and local roading networks. We have already spent a lot of money to bring the rail network closer to the quality of service we take for granted on the state highway network. But there are unresolved issues with the Upper North Island supply chain, where the interests of individual regions sometimes trump the interests of the Upper North Island and Aotearoa as a whole. The Upper North Island has 40% of Aotearoa’s population and all the nation’s major import and export ports. If this part of the system isn’t performing well, the whole country’s supply chain risks falling over.  

Rail has untapped potential in Aotearoa. The Port of Tauranga already moves more than 40% of its cargo by rail and wants to lift that; Ports of Auckland can and should do much better with rail freight but is held back by the capacity of the Auckland Metro rail network; and Northport is not yet connected to the national rail network, despite the designated and consented corridor and committed government funding. South of Dunedin, sections of rail that were un-double-tracked between Caversham and Mosgiel are now making it difficult to shift products from the Fonterra Mosgiel dairy factory to Port Chalmers[1].

Rail could play a big part in Aotearoa’s pathway to addressing climate change but is hampered by past ‘managed decline,’ current underinvestment and lack of strategic planning.  
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As recently as 2001, a single generation ago, passenger rail still connected many cities in both the North and South Islands. Today, if you want to travel between regions by train, there are only a handful of high-end tourism-oriented rail ‘experiences’ that price most kiwis out. The lonely exception is Te Huia, which was launched in 2021 to connect Auckland and Hamilton. But Te Huia’s 5-year trial has been disadvantaged by slow travel times caused by past underinvestment and lack of capacity on the Auckland Metro rail network.  

Choice is key: resilience will come from investment in multiple modes. Yes, strengthen key state highway links (in a cost-effective way that doesn’t induce more driving), and provide other routes that give people the option to travel without a car, and create ways to move freight without trucks.  

To leverage the potential of rail to move more people and goods we will need to address supply chain choke points in Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin, Waikato, and the Bay of Plenty. Dealing with these vulnerabilities help rail become the backbone of a more sustainable freight transport network and create a pathway for re-introducing public transport-oriented long-distance trains.  
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Resilience is about more than just the key state highway links. A resilient land transport system for Aotearoa is one that provides genuine sustainable choices for moving the goods that support thriving communities, and for connecting people and places. 

By Lindsey Horne

When I was in my pre to mid-teens I used to regularly catch the train between Greymouth and Christchurch. At that time we lived in Punakaiki. It was just me and my mum. The train meant that I could travel alone or with a friend, sometimes to stay with my grandparents who lived in Christchurch and at one stage because my mum was in hospital in Christchurch. The train meant that I could be at school in Greymouth during the week (I stayed at the high school hostel once I started high school) and then travel to Christchurch for the weekends

…These days it’s much too expensive to use as a form of transport which I am very sad about. It would be great to still be able to travel in that way. It opens up transport opportunities for those who can’t drive or don’t want to drive. My teenage years when mum was unwell would have been much harder without that service.
45-49 Female, Canterbury
 
As part the parliamentary enquiry into inter-regional passenger rail, Women in Urbanism sent out a simple survey to New Zealanders, asking them to share their stories of what long distances trains meant to them. They received over 330 stories from over 130 New Zealanders.

One of the striking findings was how long distance trains provided freedom for young people – and subsequently, their parents.
 
This makes sense, imagine you’re 16, in Whakatāne and it’s school holidays. Your parents are driving you batty (and vice versa) and your favourite band is playing Auckland. All you want to do is head up there with your best friend and see them. But, you’re too inexperienced to drive their on your own, your folks won’t lend you the car because they’re too worried about you being on the roads and your car that you got cheap from a friend of a friend is old and unsafe. The bus only leaves once a day, it’s over $67 for a one-way ticket and travels via Rotorua so it’s almost a 7hour journey. Catching a bus or flight to Auckland from nearby Tauranga is also difficult because there’s only one connecting bus from Whakatāne and it doesn’t get you to the connecting Tauranga bus or airport in time.
 
We heard many stories about how long distance trains provide more travel choice open up the world for young people. Freedom for teenagers also means freedom for their parents - having the teens out of the house opens up freedom for parents and caregivers. Car crashes are one of the major killers of New Zealanders in general, and car crashes are the biggest killer of our teenagers. Having a safe, affordable and comfortable way can also remove very real anxiety and concerns about having loved ones on the roads.
 
As a young teen I would often spend my school holidays on a farm that family friends owned out on the cost near Blackhead beach in Hawke's Bay. My mum was parenting alone, and it gave us both a change of scenery. But these trips also gave me something more - a sense of independence and freedom, and a big part of that was the train trip. I would get in in the central Wellington train station and spend a glorious 4 hours alone, knowing I was both safe on the train (the conductor would always pop by to check on me at some point) but also free from adult demands.
40-44 Female, Wellington
 
Te Huia allows me to go and see my family more often who live in Auckland (I live in Hamilton) as it is more convenient and affordable than other options. I am always surprised at how full the service is, one time there were no seats available but I was okay with it as it was cool to see so many people using the service. I like that there’s WiFi allowing me to use my phone or laptop for study. I am a student and it really helps to have the space and be able to work on the journey to and from home. It also means I am able to have more time when I come to see friends and family as I can do anything I need to do on the train. I’ve been able to make events that I otherwise would not have been able to because of this.
If more long distance options were available I would 100% use them given they run on affordable fairs like the Te Huia service.
The trains provide an excellent opportunity to reduce emissions and help save gas given it’s current price and I think it would also promote more interregional travel.
18-24 Female, Waikato
 
 I grew up in the Netherlands and have been independently training since I was like 12. Going to the big city (Amsterdam) for some serious shopping, or when I went to University I used it every day to head to The Hague (in the Netherlands students travel for free all over the country during weekdays).
40-49 Female, Auckland
 
The Southerner, I've caught it anywhere between Picton and Oamaru, different places along the way.  It was a mode of transport when I was in my very early 20's and didn't want to drive the distance to see my whanau or have a car to do this.  I loved the calm of being on the train, the ability to get a snack and enjoy the view and just rattle along the rails enjoying the calm of not being on the open roads and not worrying about any other drivers!!
50-54 Female, Wellington
 
 Teenagers are like an indicator species - if it can work for them i.e. those who can't drive, need some extra care and support, like to travel in groups and be social - it can work for other New Zealanders. In particular, those who are not confident travellers, solo travellers, those with accessibility needs, those who can't drive or don't want to drive.
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In addition, the recent climate protests throughout Aotearoa New Zealand are showing that many teenagers and younger people are deeply concerned about climate change. They are demanding change. We need to provide low emission options for their travel.

By Nicolas Reid

Over recent years there has been a significant revival of night trains in Europe. There are also night trains in North America and in Australia. But we do not have any night trains operating in Aotearoa New Zealand. Various articles have been published about the potential to restart a night train service between Auckland and Wellington.  This includes a blog by Nicolas Reid, Principal Public Transport Planner at MRCagney Pty Ltd published in July 2021. In our The Future is Rail conference in June, Greg Pollock, Managing Director Pollock Consulting, will be talking about the potential to bring back a night train.
 
Here is a repost of the article by Nicolas Reid
 
There has been a bit of discussion recently about the potential for a night train between Auckland and Wellington, so I thought I would look into what a North Island sleeper service might involve and whether it could be a good idea.

I consider myself something of a first-hand specialist on sleeper trains. I love long distance train travel and in my backpacking days I, er, slept my way right across Australia, Asia, Europe and America. I’ve done everything from six hours ‘sleeping’ in a chair on the night train to the salt flats in Bolivia, to an almighty six-day train trip from Mongolia to Moscow on the famed Trans-Siberian railroad.

For the passenger, the ability to sleep through long overnight travel in comfort is the main attraction of a sleeper train. This is obviously a good alternative to a long overnight car or bus trip, which can range from unpleasant on a bus, to downright dangerous behind the wheel. But it can also be a good alternative to a much shorter daytime flight: once you factor in eight hours or so spent sleeping anyway and the time taken getting to and from remote airports and checking in, a night train can be effectively faster than flying on the right corridor.
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Who takes sleeper trains?

So what is the point of a night train and who are the target markets? Based on these experiences travelling overseas I think there are five kinds of people who use night trains:

1. People with little money who want to get the best deal they can, students and backpackers, including travelling overnight sleeping in a chair. They are looking to travel cheaper than flying or driving and are happy to waste their time and comfort to do so.
2.  Enthusiasts who do it for the romance and experience of train travel, most of whom are happy to spend far more time and money than flying, but expect comfortable/luxurious private cabins and premium food and drink.
3. Mid-range tourists and business users who travel overnight to save the cost of a nights accommodation and to maximise their daylight hours travelling. They expect reasonable comfort and access to reasonable food and drink and facilities like showers and luggage.
4. People who are socially/environmentally conscious and try to avoid flying or driving too much. They have similar expectations to the mid range tourists.
5. People who are afraid of flying (I swear half of Amtrak users are in this group, the fear of flying is strong in the American Midwest!)

​Looking at this, there’s probably a reasonable demand base from a broad range of users, which is a good thing for a business if you can serve them all with the same product.

​So which kind of route works?

Any good long-distance trains need to be anchored at both ends with major demand centres that drive two-way traffic across the year. This means trains between big cities. Smaller towns and tourist destinations that are seasonal or have little non-tourist activity outside of a couple of peak weeks will struggle to support trains alone, so these are best as stops on the way between to strong anchors. The best route for a sleeper train is between a pair of main cities that have a few other towns on the way.

What sort of schedule should sleeper trains have?

In my experience night trains work best on routes that are ten to twelve hours long, with a departure around 7pm to 9pm and an arrival around 7am to 9am. Less than that and it is too rushed and compressed, you don’t have time to sleep for eight hours, and you end up either leaving after midnight or arriving at 4am, etc. But go much longer than twelve hours and you feel you are wasting time by leaving too early or arriving too late, and feel the need for lounge cars and other things to occupy your waking time. Interestingly there are quite a few examples of night trains that actually stop and park on a siding for several hours to extend a route that is too short to give a convenient timetable.

A key success factor for sleeper trains, in my experience, is that the timetables need to have a long non-stop section in the middle during the overnight hours.  This is because stopping and starting trains and blowing whistles at stations constantly wakes everyone up every half an hour all night, and very few people want to get on and off a train between about 10pm and 6am anyway. Having caught the odd one at 3am I can say there isn’t much sleeping involved that night, and much more the next. Also, running every night of the week, and in both directions every night, is ideal as it gives people the opportunity to travel when they need to. The fact is most business travelers, weekenders, tourists on short trips, students etc. don’t actually have the ability to wait around a day or two for when the train is actually running. The only people who can do that are premium tourists who book well in advance and plan their whole trip around the train.

A scheduled train both ways between Auckland and Wellington every night?

Accordingly there is at least one route in New Zealand that clearly meets the criteria for a successful night train, Auckland - Wellington. There are some other routes that might work but I’ll stick to this most obvious one for now.

This has the strongest demand for travel between two main centres in the country, linking the largest city in the country to the third largest, and the economic capital to the political and cultural capital. It is also on a route that can take in two main centres along the way, Hamilton and Palmerston North. This also has the right distance and route length at around eleven hours travel time each way. This gives it the right timing to create an overnight route that’s long enough for sleep, but its still short enough that it can leave and arrive at convenient hours.

My suggestion is to run two trains a night, one each way. And to run both directions every night of the week. The southbound train would depart Auckland at 8pm, picking up extra passengers at Pukekohe, Huntly and Hamilton. After the final pickup stop at Hamilton at 10:30pm it would the run non-stop overnight to Palmerston North, with the first arrival at 6:30am, followed by stop at Paraparaumu and arriving in Wellington at 8:15am. In the northbound direction it would do the same thing in reverse, Depart Wellington at 8pm, stop at Paraparaumu then a last pick up at Palmerston North at 9:45pm, before running non stop overnight to Hamilton for the first drop off at 5:45am, followed by Huntly and Pukekohe for an arrival in Auckland at 8:15am. These non-stop sections in between allow passengers the chance to sleep as the train makes its way through the thinly populated centre of the North Island. This does mean the train skips potential stops such as Te Kuiti, Taumaranui and Ohakune, but on a night train these would be reached deep in the middle of the night so it’s unlikely many people would want to get on or off anyway.
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If you look closely, you can see I’ve timetabled Hamilton to Palmerston north at eight hours, which is actually about two hours more than it takes on a direct run. This is so the trains can park in a siding for a couple of hours early in the morning (Taumaranui or National Park village would be the place to do that). This has a couple of reasons: it stretches the run time so that the departure at one end isn’t too late or the arrivals at the other aren’t too early, it gives passengers a full eight hours in the middle without others getting on and off in which to sleep, it gives a good place for the train crews to take a break and swap staff, and it builds some fat into the timetable so that if there are any delays getting away they can make up the time overnight.

Service classes of cabins and seats

My suggestion is an Auckland-Wellington sleeper with a three-class service with three price brackets, to sever a range of users markets. In my experience a three-class offering in the most common around the world. So these three price ranges would be:

• First class sleeper, with luxury private cabins with one or two people per cabin and ensuite bathroom. This would come with a sit-down restaurant-style food and drink service, and personal host service. This targets the luxury tourists and some of the business travellers.
• Standard class sleeper, with more compact mid-range cabins with up to four people per cabin, (e.g. bunks with two up two down), or maybe compact two-bunk and single options. These would probably have shared toilet and shower facilities, and self-service café counter food and drink options. This is for the mid-range tourists and business users and the environmentally conscious types.
• Economy class: open carriage with large reclining seats in 2+1 arrangement (NZ trains are quite narrow so getting four across would be a squeeze). These would likewise have shared toilet and self-service café food and drink options. This is for the backpackers, class trips and budget conscious. 

Train carriages and capacity

Based on similar sized trains overseas each train carriage would fit about eight cabins, or 54 seats in the economy carriage. So first class is up to 16 people per carriage, standard class is 32 per carriage, and economy is 54 seated. I’ll assume each train consists of seven carriages and a locomotive, to easily fit in existing station platforms. I’ve not assumed there is need for a separate baggage car as people will take luggage with them into the cabin or above their seat. This gives us something like this for each train, with capacity for 220 people if completely full:

• 1x first class cabin carriage (16 passengers each),
• 3x standard class cabin carriages (96 passengers)
• 2x economy seated carriage (108 passengers),
• 1x café counter/restaurant car, with generator.
• plus a locomotive.

What would the ticket prices be?
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In terms of ticket prices, based on international experience the standard class should be priced similar to a standard full price airfare on the same route, in this case about $200 one way for a standard class berth in a cabin. Per person, first class should be a bit more than double standard class, at about $450 a head (or $900 per cabin), while economy should be about half the cost of standard class at around $99 each way for a recliner. If you add up these fares levels and the number of berths and seats proposed, each one-way train run could bring in up to $40,000 of revenue if fully booked out.

What about the cost of buying and running these trains?

Luckily New Zealand has the capacity to make these trains. We have a large supply of spare carriages from the old Auckland fleet, and the industry within the country to design, modify and refit them for other purposes. Kiwirail has done this several times for its acclaimed tourist train carriages, and most recently for the Te Huia commuter train from Hamilton to Auckland. There are some parts that come from abroad and other considerations, but they could be designed and built within 12 months of getting sign off.  Indeed from the business case for Te Huia we have a very good idea of what it would cost to set up the trainsets for an Auckland-Wellington sleeper train.
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Based on these recent train developments by Kiwirail, I expect we can budget $1.2m per carriage for the cabins and café cars, $1.0m for the seating cars and $2.5m per locomotive refit. This means each seven-carriage trainset would cost $10.5m including the locomotive. With two trainsets required to run both ways that’s a capital cost of $21m to build the fleet.  If we assume these new trains can be stored, maintained and serviced at the existing Kiwirail facilities in Auckland and Wellington, the fleet should be the only major capital cost to set up the service.

In terms of operating cost, again the Te Huia business case gives us a great indicator. Kiwirail is charging $5.0m per year to fuel, staff, manage, operate and maintain the Te Huia trains. This buys twenty-two one-way trips a week on the Hamilton Auckland run. Doing the math, we can see this equates to 1,716 train-hours of operation per year for five million dollars, or a cost of $2,900 per service-hour per train. These costs are very high by international standards, but that’s another story. For now our night train concept would have ten and a bit hours of service time per train (plus the layover), which amounts to a little over $29,000 per train, per night.

With two trains each night, running every night of the year, the operating cost of the night train service would be $21.6m each year. 

To recap, the bottom line

By international standards Auckland to Wellington is a good candidate for a sleeper trains, with the right sort of route length, timing and demand drivers to be a success. In this post I have proposed a schedule for a nightly sleeper train both ways between Auckland-Hamilton and Palmerston North-Wellington, starting each end around 8pm and arriving at the final terminus around 8am the next day, with an eight-hour non-stop period through the night. The two trains would each have capacity for 220 passengers in a mix of premium and standard cabins and seats, across a seven-carriage locomotive hauled train. The trains could be re-built from carriages and locomotives already in New Zealand, and be operating within about 12 months.
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With these trainsets and schedule a North Island night train would have the potential to replace up to 150,000 long distance car trips or flights per year, and in the order of 75 million vehicle-kilometres-travelled.
The capital cost to set up the trains would be around $21m dollars up front, with ongoing costs of $22m per year to run. With fares roughly equivalent to flying between Auckland and Wellington, it would need to achieve average occupancy of 74% full each night across the year to break even. While maintaining very high occupancy levels every night of the year is perhaps unrealistic, these quick sums do suggest there is at least the possibility of a decent business case, especially when non-fiscal factors like emissions, travel time savings and business productivity are also considered.

By Lindsey Horne

​Earlier in March, thousands of people took part in the nationwide strike, calling for more action on climate change. Failure to act will cost us billions and will put us further at risk of more extreme weather events, similar and worse to what we’ve seen this last summer. So where and how can we start to act? After agricultural emissions, transport is one the major contributors to New Zealand’s emissions.

Transport is a major contributor to NZ's greenhouse gas emissions footprint, and it’s evident at all levels. Nationally, road transport contributes to over 15% of all gross emissions. In Auckland alone, road and air transport together represent over 36% of emissions. And domestic emissions have increased too, with transport now accounting for 37% of the average household carbon footprint; up 1.6% on the previous year.

Rail, on the other hand, is one of the most efficient modes of transport available, alongside walking and cycling. Data from the UK suggests that taking a train instead of a domestic flight could reduce your emissions by ~84%. Similarly, using a bike instead of a car for short trips reduces travel emissions by three-quarters. It’s not surprising that a growing proportion of New Zealanders are calling out for low carbon alternatives to flying and driving.

There is a crucial opportunity with a national passenger rail service. One that is frequent, affordable and well connected to major hubs in New Zealand. Not only would this help us towards lowering our emissions, but there are many other benefits to New Zealanders as well. From travelling in a more tranquil way with young children, to a safe and social journey through to a productive, work-as-you-go journey.

As part the recent parliamentary enquiry into inter-regional passenger rail, Women in Urbanism sent out a simple survey to New Zealanders, asking them to share their stories of what long distance trains mean to them. They received more than 330 stories, submitted by 130 individuals and the stories highlight what we’re currently missing out on by not having national passenger rail.

This included stories and experiences from:

1. Those who had previously caught long distance trains in New Zealand
2. Those who had caught long distance trains overseas
3. Those who currently take long distance trains in New Zealand (e.g. the Capital Connection, Te Huia)
4. Those who would like to travel by long distance trains in New Zealand

​The sample was diverse, and included a spread of (1) different ages (from under 18 through to over 75), (2) geographic regions around New Zealand, (3) ethnicities, and (4) household structures.

Taken together, these stories paint a picture of a different – but achievable – New Zealand. One which doesn’t always prioritize the private car. One in which transport is more equitable and affordable, comfortable and safe, sustainable and future-proof. Have a look at the 12 key themes that we found in our analysis of these stories.

• Providing an alternative option for those who cannot or prefer not to drive

For many, driving or flying is not an option, therefore, trains open up new opportunities to get around. 

“I went from Christchurch to Greymouth on the Trans Alpine on my first ever solo bikepacking journey. It allowed me to solo travel and feel safe. I also felt like I would have never visited the West Coast because I'm not a confident driver crossing the Pass. It was a peaceful journey where I felt I enjoyed a new part of New Zealand I'd never seen before.”
35-39 Female, Wellington

“My preference is always to avoid driving because I loathe it.”
40-44 Female, Auckland

• A comfortable experience

Access to toilets, dining carriages, bringing food on board, comfortable seats, smooth journey.

In 2009 I travelled around Europe with my mother on a six-week Eurail pass. For a New Zealander, this was a revelation…Above all my strongest memory is how pleasant the journeys were, and how we were able to arrive in a city after a rail journey of several hours feeling refreshed and relaxed, ready to explore. If we had been travelling by car or bus, the trip would have been much more stressful and I would have needed time to rest after each leg of the journey.
30-34 Female, Wellington
 
In the early 2000s, when I worked in Salisbury, I regularly caught the train to London and points in between to see friends, visit theatre, etc. I love train travel as it is fast, convenient, has services on-board such as food & drink and toilets.
75+ Female, Otago

• Stress-free and efficient journey

Especially compared to driving (dangerous, stressful, uncomfortable) and flying (checking in, difficult with children).

For me, being a train passenger compared to driving or flying is much more peaceful, relaxing, and safe, as well as being less likely to induce anxiety, as I don't have to worry about traffic, hazards, or falling out of the sky!
25-29 Female, Wellington
 
…No one was exhausted by experience of the train travel, no stress of driving, finding routes (navigating one-way streets), the stress about parking, security of the vehicle, driver fatigue and safety. The hassles of flying everyone knows, no matter how seductive the 10 Euro fare from Ryanair, the hours queueing and camping out at the airport and the security!
70-74 Male, Auckland

• Affordable

It’s perceived that trains used to be affordable or are affordable overseas and there is a real desire for affordable long distance trains in New Zealand.

I love the train! I used to live in DC and the train network around there was so affordable and accessible that I was able to regularly visit family. It was cheaper than driving and took the same amount of time.
30-34 Female, Auckland
I'd love to go all sorts of places on a train in NZ.  Auckland to Wellington would be most convenient, with all stops, but also down the South Island, Picton-Chch-Dunedin-Queenstown maybe?  It would be great if it were frequent and affordable - not geared solely towards tourists with lots of money, but a pleasant affordable everyday experience.
40-44 Female, Auckland
 
I would love a train to take us to the capital. To Tauranga/Mt Maunganui, Taranaki. So many kids sport events take place in Tauranga/Mt Maunganui and Taranaki. Do you know the cost of flying a school sports team to those places??? Much easier for everyone to just travel by train.
45-49 Female, Auckland

• Safe way to travel

The freedom trains afford is very important to me as a woman. Planes or cars still feel relatively unsafe. I get tired of driving out of Wellington and seeing the same landscape when we go to Napier or Whanganui so trains would keep domestic travel interesting and affordable.
35-39 Female, Wellington
 
Safer and more pleasant than driving.
40-45 Female, Auckland
 
When I was a child in the 1990s the family would regularly take the train from Kapiti to Hawkes' Bay, where we had a holiday property. We would meet my Dad who had driven up by himself at Waipukurau station for the final drive. I always enjoyed the train much more than the car journey, which was often nauseating and scary.
30-34 Female, Wellington

• Easier way to travel for caregivers

People looking after small children found train travel a much more convenient and comfortable way to travel compared to driving or flying. 

We travelled Auckland - Wellington - Auckland. It meant we could travel as a family with young babies (at the time). Walk up and down. Look out windows etc, without some air hostess telling us to sit down or to stop loitering around the toilets. So much easier to feed the children too.
45-49 Female, Auckland
 
When I was a child, we once caught the Southerner from Dunedin to Oamaru to visit my grandparents. My mother wasn't so keen on driving with two young children at the time, and presumably my father was busy, so it gave us another vital transport option. It was interesting for children, and much more comfortable than the bus. 
35-39 Female, Canterbury

• A fun experience

People can read, sleep, play games, work, chat etc. while they travel. 
I regularly caught the Napier - Wellington train for work and pleasure. I prefer it to flying and don't want to drive. The amount of work I could complete really gave me great opportunities to get stuck into my job as soon as I arrived.
Sometimes I caught the Wellington - Auckland train, just for pleasure. I prefer it over flying/ driving less carbon footprint. Also by the time you've got to the airport, waited for the plane, and luggage, it seems so much more pleasant, and fun to catch the train.
65-69 Female, Hawkes Bay
 
My first overseas experience on a long distance train was on the TGV in France. I was 13. My younger brother and I found it thrilling. I loved the romance of the stations and the multiple carriages including a dining cart. We would run through them all finding empty carriages to play in and shoot movies.
…It far more comfortable than flying or driving but maybe it's also that feeling of trains physically connecting one place to another through tracks. The brain can conceptualize the feeling much more than flying. I think many people would resonate with that in New Zealand and we have the added advantage of a truly beautiful landscape.
30-34 Female, Wellington

• Connecting New Zealanders and visitors to new locations

Visiting parts of the country they wouldn’t normally visit. Seeing the beautiful scenery and connecting with New Zealand

Passenger rail helped us spend more time and dollars in rural New Zealand towns. We used to take a day time train to Taihape, stay the night there, then cycle for a couple of days to Napier, then back by train to Wellington. A lovely low-carbon, low-stress mini-break.
55-59 Male, Wellington
 
My family are lucky to have access to a bach in the far north. A train going north would mean we could finish work and catch a train to the nearest station, without having to drive, be stuck in traffic and contribute to emissions.
35-39 Female, Auckland

• Sustainable and low carbon way to travel

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Especially compared to flying and driving.
 
It would mean that I could reduce my carbon emissions further.
50-54 Male, Canterbury
 
It would be so great to have the opportunity to use a low carbon travel option. I fully support long distance trains becoming more efficient so that our cities are connected across New Zealand.
25-29 Female, Wellington
 
It would be so great to have the opportunity to use a low carbon travel option. I fully support long distance trains becoming more efficient so that our cities are connected across New Zealand.
25-29 Female, Wellington
 
Sustainability and climate change wise it is a no brainer to have alternatives in NZ to flying or driving, whether for work, tourism local or international.
75+ Female, Canterbury
 
I wish I could travel by train in Aotearoa!  I've chosen to live without a car, mostly because of the environment, which is fine within the city - there is plenty of public transport to get me around.  But when I want to go anywhere else, I either have to fly (which is expensive, and the emissions make my reason for not having a car pointless), catch a bus (which are slow, uncomfortable, and make me motion sick), or hire a car (expensive again, incredibly wasteful if it's only me travelling, and all the stress of driving).  On a train I could read a book without feeling sick, get up and walk around to stretch my legs, and relax and watch the scenery go past. 
50-54, Canterbury

• Easy to travel with bikes

People can bring their bikes to connect them to other parts of their destination. 

Trains + bikes = low-carbon tourism.
NZ Cycle Trails are booming in popularity, but let's not force people to drive or fly to them.
Passenger rail services will enable people to travel to Te Kuiti, ride the Timber Trail to Taumarunui, then train home.
Passenger rail to Rotorua will enable mountain bike tourism to grow.
E-bikes are super-popular but you can't fly with a lithium battery. Passenger rail will enable people to access trails without flying.
Here's an easy win - add luggage space for bikes. The Northern Explorer has a paltry two bike limit.
55-59 Male, Wellington
 
I travelled throughout western Europe and Eastern Europe by train, and travelled in the UK by train, bringing my bike with me for weekend adventures. I once moved house via train from the south of England to Scotland, with my large backpack and bike in tow.
40-44 Female, Bay of Plenty
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• Making social connections on board and travelling as a group

A friendly environment that allows for people to connect and socialize. 
I trained from Auckland to Dunedin to attend Otago University. It was fantastic and gave me an appreciation of our geography as well as providing new friends made en route.
60-64 Female, Canterbury
 
When I was a teenager, my parents and four siblings travelled on The Ghan through the middle of Australia…This Christmas, three of our family members are travelling to Australia to join my parents and do the long distance train trip from Adelaide to Melbourne. One day, we’d like to do the train trip to Perth, too.
My parents, my own family and my sisters have travelled on trains all around the world - sometimes for fun, and sometimes as the most efficient way to get somewhere - and our fascination never ends. Trains are a great way to travel!
40-45 Female, Wellington

• Connecting New Zealanders through social visits

Visiting friends and whanau. 

I returned from a trip to Europe (visiting family and holiday with friends and family) yesterday - 19 October. None of the great experiences and time with people would be possible without train travel.
70-74 Male, Auckland
 
I would love to have some long distance trains here in the South Island. I live in Christchurch and have family in Invercargill who I rarely visit because the trip is so long. I would happily take a train instead of the car to visit them more regularly if they were cost effective and comfortable. I’d probably take more trips to visit other family in Timaru etc if there was an enjoyable train trip to take.
35-39 Female, Canterbury

By Paul Callister

​In his book review blog ‘Still can’t get there from here: A review of André Brett’s history of passenger rail in New Zealand since 1920’, Ross Clark sets out some of the reasons why we no longer have a long distance passenger rail network in New Zealand. The rise of car ownership and the introduction of cheap flights were key reasons. But while these are very important, this was also happening in countries that kept and improved their passenger rail networks, such as Switzerland and Norway. Ross also sets out the institutional factors that influenced the decline of rail. In a neo-liberal political environment, decision makers decided that passenger rail was a transport idea that had passed its time and that cars and planes were the future.
 
These decisions were made when there was still relatively little understanding or acceptance of climate change. The floods in Auckland over their anniversary weekend and now the major impact of Cyclone Gabrielle show the clearly the impact of a warming climate. While thoughts turn to adaptation rather than mitigation, including more road building, it is even clearer that we need to reduce emissions throughout the world if we are to prevent the climate crisis becoming even worse.
 
Various studies suggest that globally we need to reduce our individual annual CO2 emissions to below 3 tonnes. As a guide, the Toitu travel calculators suggest just one return flight from Auckland to Queenstown followed by an Auckland to Wellington flight gets one near the first tonne. A return trip to London doubles the budget. Flying is very emission intensive. Driving in fossil fueled cars also quickly uses up our allocation. And while having ‘zero-tailpipe emissions’ even electric cars have lots of embedded carbon through the manufacturing process. While it is a challenge for individuals to stay within the emissions budget, many New Zealanders already do. We now need many more to reduce their emissions.
 
Other studies look at energy budgets. Globally, there are suggestions that the well-off need to significantly reduce their energy consumption while the poor can increase theirs. Research using 2020 estimates suggest a decent living energy to be about 15 gigajoules annually for each person. This is just one-tenth of the average American’s annual energy consumption.
 
As shown in our first blog, passenger rail helps reduce emissions using very small amounts of renewable energy. It is not possible to make a direct comparison between equivalent uses of aviation and trains, but Ministry of Environment data allows us to compare emissions of all train travel in new Zealand, mainly freight, and all flying domestically, mainly passengers. Between 1990 and 2020, domestic aviation emitted between 5 and 8 times as much C02 as did rail operations.
 
With more widespread electrification of the rail network these emissions will get even lower. While these types of studies tell us about the past and our current day conditions, much is uncertain especially when projecting out to mid-century, a date used in many emission reduction scenarios.
 
As we know from the past, decision making is often carried out within a framework of ideology and beliefs. This is especially important for considering investments in long distance passenger rail.
 
Consider two quite differing frameworks for decarbonisation and energy descent, “degrowth”
and “green growth”
 
What might the ‘green growthers’ say?
 
Growth in demand for fast and convenient aviation is a natural response to economic growth and society should plan to accommodate it. Material and energy use can grow and be allocated in response to demand. Electric, hydrogen powered or biofuel powered planes are the future and such technological breakthroughs are just around the corner. For batteries, there are enough minerals, especially as we switch to newer and cheaper processes (e.g. away from cobalt and rare earths). We can build enough renewable energy to replace fossil fuels. Biofuels, from waste, wood, algae and corn are the answer for long distance flying and can be quickly scaled up.
 
What might a degrowth framework tell us?
 
There are not enough minerals to build either renewable energy nor batteries and other technological advances needed for green growth projects. We cannot build and maintain enough renewable energy to supply ever-rising demand. We will not have breakthroughs in battery technology any time soon that will allow large, longer distance regional electric planes. Biofuels are an environmental disaster taking away valuable land for fuel production, relying on feedstocks that are unsustainable (e.g. palm oil) or in short supply such as used cooking oil. Aviation fuel made from trees is hope rather than a reality any time soon.
 
Green growth is the dominant policy position around the world, at least insofar as efforts have been made to reduce emissions at all. To degrowthers, the green growth agenda – even if it could be realised – would still not constitute true sustainability. Yet Green growth risks sliding into the extremist fringes of eco-modernism and techo-optimism, the belief that technology and economic growth will solve all environmental and human development challenges without fundamental change to society or affluent lifestyles.
 
There is a fundamental difference between land transport, where low-emission alternatives from walking to electric trains already exist (but fast enough adoption is still difficult), and air transport, where low-emission alternatives do not yet exist.
 
There is also another framework that is very important. This could be characterised as ‘freedom of choice’ versus ‘collective responsibility’. At one extreme, the market would decide on future investments with little government intervention, at the other the government has a responsibility to influence or directly fund investments. Three yearly elections tip us collectively in one direction or the other.
 
An additional uncertainty is future population size in Aotearoa New Zealand. Might it be 10 million or even higher if we take in a significant number of climate refugees? If 10 million people were living in large but compact urban centres then inter-regional rail becomes even more viable
 
Decisions to invest in passenger rail is a very long term investment that goes well beyond political cycles. It has to be made within a range of frameworks and uncertainties.
 
As a researcher, with an economics background, I hope technology will keep providing us with new breakthroughs, including advances in rail technology. But overall, through my research I am more influenced by the degrowth philosophy. And while markets are good at allocating many resources, government needs to set overall directions and to invest in key areas of infrastructure. This leads me to the conclusion that it is wise for us to now invest in restoring passenger rail in Aotearoa New Zealand. It is why I became involved in the Save Our Rail campaign.
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In future blogs we will examine why many other New Zealanders want to see a revival of passenger rail.

Imagine biking to the railway station, loading your bike, and relaxing on the train ahead of a weekend ride.

You are off to Te Kuiti to ride the Timber Trail. Or to Greymouth for the West Coast Wilderness Trail. Or Kaikoura for the Hurunui Heartland Ride.

The train includes dedicated space for bikes, comfortable seating, yummy meals and refreshments. Instead of battling traffic, you arrive relaxed and ready to ride.

After exploring cycle trails for a couple of days, the train whisks you home. Easy peasy.

This is my vision for the future of rail in New Zealand.

Trains plus bikes go together.

They combine the speed and comfort of rail, with the point to point convenience of biking. Less traffic congestion, less carbon, safer, and quieter. We'll get more value from our investments in cycle trails. This will create jobs, especially in the regions.

An evaluation of the New Zealand Cycle Trails in 2021 found that:

• Over 12 months 2.2 million trips were taken on the Cycle Trail Great Rides network.
• 98.5 percent were domestic users.
• 27 percent of the adult population has participated in cycle tourism.
• Health benefits of $11 million resulting from trail use for cycling, such as improved sense of wellbeing and mental health; an increased appreciation of the natural environment; and physical fitness improvements.
• Cycle trail users brought a direct economic contribution to regions of more than $950 million.

​This vision is possible. A couple of decades ago we had passenger trains throughout New Zealand, as described in André Brett and Sam van der Weerden's book, “Can’t Get There from Here”.

As New Zealand embraces a low-carbon future, let's make train plus bike tourism the easiest option.