Te Huia is set to return to the Auckland CBD from 7 August after implementing certain agreed on safety measures. Photo: RNZ / Gill Bonnett
A passenger train banned from downtown Auckland due to safety concerns after it ran two red lights has been given the go-ahead to return to the CBD from 7 August.
Waka Kotahi put a prohibition order on Te Huia, the Hamilton to Auckland train, after two different drivers crashed stop signs on the network in two separate incidents - in one case another commuter train was forced to stop to avoid a potential collision.
Since then Te Huia has been stopping more than 30km away from the CBD at Papakura.
As a condition of re-entry into the city the Transport Agency had said the train needed to be fitted with a specific sophisticated electronic control system - that monitors the train in real time and can slow or take control of it.
That has not happened but Waka Kotahi director of land transport Neil Cook said they had reached an agreement on safety measures and there were a range of additional controls that would be put in place.
An electronic train protection system would be commissioned and operating before Te Huia went on the Auckland metro network again, he said.
"It's not as advanced as some of the other systems around but it will stop the train if the train passes a red signal, so it's a significant improvement on simply relying on the driver."
KiwiRail will also be giving drivers more training, in particular in terms of familiarising them with the routes, before they return to the Auckland network, he said.
Waka Kotahi backed down on enforcing the requirement for KiwiRail to implement a specific electronic control system once it realised that these other alternative safety measures could be taken, Cook said.
"That's given us the assurance that the service can be operated safely."
Cook rejected claims that Waka Kotahi had singled out Te Huia when other trains were operating without these safety features.
"There's no question that we singled out Te Huia for any reason other than the fact that Te Huia was presenting risk in the system that we found unacceptable. We're not ignoring other risks, we're dealing with them in different ways."
Waka Kotahi has been working with KiwiRail for the last two weeks to address the issues it had raised, he said.
"Those issues have been addressed satisfactorily so we've lifted the prohibition."
Cook said Waka Kotahi did not have any information from KiwiRail regarding any investigations they had done into the individual drivers who crashed the red lights.
