REGISTER

A.F. SMALL, M.E. Ph.D C. Eng., M.LC.E, M.NZ.LR, F.C.I.T.

GROUP MANAGER (PREIGET BUSINESS GROUP) NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS CORPOMTION

The electrification of the North island Main Trunk Railway (NIMT) is the largest engineering project carried out by New Zealand Railways in recent times. Extending over 410km the Electrification Project traverses the central region of the North Island of New Zealand.

The project was initially proposed to increase operating capacity and was approved as a strategic project in the national interest in 1981. But market requirements have changed from demand for increased capacity to new demands for lower transport operator costs and improved transit times over one of the most densely aperated sktions in the New Zealand rail network. The Freight Business Group sees the Project as an element in the task of meeting current market requirements.

This Project is of similar magnitude to the construction of the line itself between 1880 and 1908. The decision to electrify the route was therefore taken only after protracted strategic reviews of alternative operating systems and detailed economic and engineering investigations. The Project today is still not without some controversy.

The total cost of the Project as forecast in 1981 was S141.8M with an additional $20M of investment in the replacement of signals and communication equipment and associated civil work to be carriedout within NZR's annual capital investment programme. The 1981 proposal forecast savings providing a 14.2% internal rate of return. The Project is still within the budget (allowing for inflation) and is on time for scheduled completion in 1988.

This paper describes the background to the Project; the freight markets of the North Island; the range of electrification studies previously undertaken; the factors that led to the 1981 decision by Government to electrify the route; the operating requirements and scope of the project; progress  to date; recent changes to the New Zealand transport scene which have affected the economic viability of the Project; and the commercial role of electrification for the future.