Greater Wellington welcomes $137.2m investment in rail substations for future reliability and growth

Greater Wellington has welcomed news from the Minister of Transport Hon. Simeon Brown this morning, who announced a further $137.2m in funding for the completion of a series of substation upgrades across the Wellington region to enable future reliability and growth in the rail network.

In a report prepared for Greater Wellington, Metlink, KiwiRail and Transdev and New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi ( Wellington Rail Programme Business Case July 2022 (PDF 9.9 MB) ), a number of significant and ongoing investment areas were identified to enable Wellington, Kāpiti and Horowhenua respond to population, safety and resilience issues.

One of the key focus areas was traction power upgrades, including additional substations and wider enabling power network upgrades. Wellington’s metro rail network is largely at capacity – with the number of trains that already exist drawing the maximum power available. Upgrading substations across the region will overcome current limitations and enable higher future train frequencies.

Chair of Greater Wellington Daran Ponter says the funding announcement will be a welcome boost to the region’s economy and its neighbours in Horowhenua, with the region’s rail system expected to respond to significant population growth over the coming decades.

“Wellington, Kāpiti and Horowhenua will need to accommodate an additional 200,000 people, a 35 per cent increase, and 100,000 jobs in the next 30 years. Three quarters of this growth is expected to occur to the north, along the eastern and western growth corridors that follow our primary rail corridors.

A substantial proportion of this growth is expected to occur in areas of the region with longer rail journey times. Upgrading substations means we can put on more trains, draw more power, and increase services. Jobs, homes, and communities will all benefit from this investment.

We have worked closely with KiwiRail on this project to date and we look forward to delivering it alongside them,” says Chair Ponter.

Mayor of Kāpiti District Coast Council, Janet Holborow says the substation improvements will give the Wellington Metro electrification the “boost” needed to support more train services in the future.

“Connecting up our region more by introducing more services and enabling people to freely move from Horowhenua, Kāpiti and Wellington is the goal, and this is the first step to realising that.

Businesses will have access to a wider pool of candidates, people will have access to a wider choice of jobs and housing options, and people visiting the region for tourism will have a much better experience too,” says Mayor Holborow.

In the Wellington Rail Programme Business Case July 2022 (PDF 9.9 MB) , stakeholders identified three fundamental problems that need to be addressed through investment in the region’s rail system:

1. Inconsistent customer journey experience and limited rail system capacity result in the network being unable to meet mode share targets, which prevent achievement of growth and environmental obligations 
2. Current infrastructure is not capable of safely accommodating additional trains, restricting the options available to accommodate future demand 
3. The condition and configuration of the rail network makes it vulnerable to service disruptions, which has a flow on impact onto the wider transport system

Chair of Greater Wellington’s Transport Committee Thomas Nash says it’s good to progress these three fundamental investment areas and continue ticking off the ‘to do list’.

“Despite significant funding and efforts in recent years, the declining levels of the Crown's rail assets together with network-wide limitations such as traction power supply have been working against the strong patronage growth we’ve seen in rail. The conditions of the Crown's rail network assets are putting people off taking the train and in turn limiting the benefits that rail can deliver to our wider transport system and our emissions reduction work.

"The region has a clear long-term plan for rail in Wellington, we know what we need to do, and this announcement means we can continue getting on with it. The funding is a crucial piece of the puzzle, and it will help move New Zealand further towards a net-zero emissions by 2050. Expanding passenger rail is an obvious and proven way to reduce transport emissions efficiently, which is critical to achieving New Zealand’s climate action commitments.

"It is important to continue to invest in and protect the resilience of the rail network, including electrification and providing longer term certainty on funding for network renewals and maintenance so that the Crown can bring its existing assets up to a standard that allows for passenger rail to deliver what people expect of it. This is all the more important as our region grows and it will encourage more housing development around railway stations, which is a win-win for convenience, amenity, cost-effectiveness, and low-emissions living” says Cr Nash.