Bright Wings

KiwiRail needs to adopt pro-active strategy

Media coverage of delays on KiwiRail's commuter services on a Monday morning seem to be becoming a habit, with yet another story on KiwiRail failing to meet its own targets. Yet again.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  KiwiRail isn't perfect, but it has to catch up on a 20-year backlog of maintenance and improvement, both for the rail network and the trains.

Monday morning seems to be particularly bad, because KiwiRail crews have been working on the new line and infrastructure in the Wellington rail yards, and teething problems from each weekend's work seem to flow over into the Monday morning rush.  The Wairarapa train is particularly hard hit with delays.

Here's what KiwiRail could do:

1. Widely advertise that delays are possible on Monday morning services into Wellington and suggest that passengers catch an earlier train that morning to avoid being late for meetings, etc.
2. Locate a social-media savvy communications (PR) person in the Train Control office during the commuter rush to issue texts, Tweets and radio announcements as soon as a delay looks possible. Lack of information is one of the key reasons for commuter fury.
3. Issue meaningful texts.  Not just another "delay due to an operational incident."  What happened. Why?
4. Ensure train staff are fully informed as to the reason for the delay and likely arrival time in Wellington. ( They are often embarrassed by the lack of knowledge as well.)  Make sure they keep passengers fully informed.
5. Where delays of over half an hour occur, the train staff hand out discount vouchers for passengers to use when purchasing their next ten-trip ticket or monthly pass.
6. Using a variety of media, have weekly "show and tell" updates on what work has been completed in the Wellington rail yards (and other infrastructure and rolling stock updates.) It is clear the commuting public doesn't understand the scale of the work involved.

 

See earlier post KiwiRail in firing line again

KiwiRail in firing line once again

Happy Wairarapa train passengers :
The Queen and Prince Philip arrive at Masterton Station, 1952

 

Wellington train commuters are again up in arms over delays caused by their train breaking down, with a few refusing to pay.

I too have gnashed my teeth as we sat for hours alongside the Ferry Terminal, seeing myself late - again - for an important Monday morning meeting.

 

Better communication needed

It seems today's episode was as much about a lack of communication from train staff, as much as the actual delay

"People are just fed up," Ms Galtry said. "There was no notification it was going to be cancelled, no apology, nothing. And this has happened several times, so some of us agreed not to pay as a sort of protest."

While communicating with passengers isn't necessarily going to stop them being late for work, it might help them understand that staff have the passengers' best interests in mind, and make them feel a little more in sympathy with KiwiRail's problems.

 

Infrastructure catchup

KiwiRail is the fall guy for 20 years of lack of investment in rolling stock and railway lines. Although huge efforts have been made to improve the network and invest in new passenger carriages, parts of it are still equivalent to a Model T Ford bumping down a gravel road. Breakdowns are inevitable.

As a Wairarapa commuter for 22 years, I saw the service degrade significantly once it went into private ownership and breakdowns become commonplace. The breathtakingly stupid scheme to weld all the railway lines together, so the lines buckled in Wairarapa summer temperatures, was the icing on the cake.

Taking a longer view than many of today's commuters, there have been some big improvements from when the Wairarapa train broke down on just about a daily basis.  Going through the Rimutaka tunnel in the dark with no emergency lights was possibly the low point for me.

The extra line into Wellington Station should, once the upgrade is complete, prevent some of the morning congestion into the station.

Some of the younger Wairarapa train managers, whose communication and relationship with passengers is exemplary, should be used as role models for staff on the suburban lines.

 

KiwiRail Turnaround Plan

 

Photo: Picture Wairarapa

Wairarapa train crowding problem foreseen

Overcrowding is again a problem on Wairarapa trains, according to the DomPost.

When the new trains were launched it was immediately obvious that the seating capacity of the new trains was not going to allow for any future growth.

I hoped they would retain five or six of the old carriages to provide additional capacity. But no, they were speedily despatched elsewhere.

Some lateral thinking is required. What about a Martinborough to Wellington coach service?  Or returning the 5.45 am Masterton-Wellington train to Featherston to provide a Featherston-Wellington service, leaving Featherston around 8.45 am?

And lest current commuters think they're hard done by, on many occasions over 20-odd years,  I have had to stand in the foyer of the old carriages, with no heating, diesel fumes and maximum noise, all the way from Wellington to Featherston.

Featherston on Facebook

Featherston is really going places these days.  It's a popular place for train commuters, being only an hour from Wellington.  These people are breathing new life into what has been a forgotten, neglected corner of the Wairarapa.

Featherston is on Facebook and the site is bustling with interesting news, activities for residents to join, as well as initiatives which benefit the wider community.  Well done, Featherston.

Here's the link again:  Featherston on Facebook

If you're a Featherston resident reading this and don't understand Facebook email me (email address at the top righthand corner of this page) and I'll find someone local to help you.

Perils of being a Wairarapa Commuter

I watched with increasing concern initial reports on Twitter - later confirmed by other media - that the 5.33pm Wairarapa train last night had derailed just out of the Maymorn tunnel.

Stuff reported

Train driver Adam Ford, still inside his mud-covered engine, told The Dominion Post at the scene last night: "I came into the tunnel and I could not see out the other end. It was a sea of mud. The portal was completely blocked. We slammed into it and slid off the tracks."

Six other carriages on the 5.33pm service between Wellington and Wairarapa stayed on the tracks but were stranded in the tunnel.

Passengers were stuck inside for more than two hours before being moved to the rear three carriages, which were pulled to Upper Hutt station by a second locomotive.

I'm not a Wairarapa train commuter at the moment but I have plenty of experience of reaching home at 9.30 pm or later because of incidents - some weather related, most mechnical - affecting the Wairarapa train.

I recall a perilous trip in a small minibus over the Rimutaka Hill in similar conditions to last night after a slip blocked the line at Maymorn. After waiting for a couple of hours at Upper Hutt station while arrangements were made, we were treated to a rather frightening ride - a howling gale, torrential rain and slips everywhere.

Wairarapa commuters are a phlegmatic lot. There's no point in getting wound up because you're missing a family birthday/meeting, etc. They just accept the train's stuck and that's that.

I was woken this morning at 5.06 am by a text from KiwiRail to say that there would be no trains, nor substitute buses.  For once KiwiRail was being proactive and sent out a text in time to allow commuters to make arrangements to travel by car.

Some Martinborough commuters have attempted to travel by car but have been caught by floodwaters from the Ruamahunga River.

For most of the time the train service is reasonably reliable, but there are times - such as today - when it is wiser to work from home or take the day off.