REGISTER

AEC Neilson BE (Elect), MIPENZ, FIRSE

Manager STE Engineering Tranz Rail Ltd

New Zealand's railways have a history of signalling innovation and change. Double line and single line automatic signalling were first introduced in the early 1920s and a decision made  to introduce CTC by 1938 (l) resulting in 2 small systems in operation by the end of 1939 and the system between Wellington and Paekakariki by 1941. Appendix 5 details some innovations from the 1950s to the 1970s.

Signalling infrastructure was provided to meet operational needs of the time which were influenced by  Government control of the then New Zealand Railways Department (NZR). Despite technical innovation, as a government Department, NZR entered the late 1970s with mounting financial losses. It also faced new competitive challenges. The statutory road transport limit of 64 kilometres that was designed to provide protection to rail traffic was relaxed to 150 km in 1978 and lifted entirely in 1983 thus resulting in more intense competition between road and rail. The network then comprised about 4500 route  kilometres supported by approximately 20,000 staff.

In 1981 the status of New Zealand Railways was changed with the establishment of the New Zealand  Railways Corporation (NZRC) with its own board of directors to make it more responsive to the marketplace and rail's competitors.

This was the first step in the process of commercialization. NZRC was given the mandate to provide safe and efficient rail and ancillary services in such a way that revenue exceeded all costs and to provide a return on capital at a rate to be set by the government. In 1990 NZRC changed to a limited liability company "NZ Rail Lid" which was still owned by the Government as a State Owned Enterprise. This was then sold in 1993 to a consortium of Wisconsin Central, Berkshire Partners and Fay Richwhite. The Company changed its name in 1995 to "Tranz Rail Ltd" and was listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange and the National Association of Security Dealers Automated Quotation System National Market (NASDAQ) in the USA in 1996.

This paper will review the signalling infrastructure history and provide an overview of how changes to the signalling infrastructure, staffing and practices were managed and implemented from the late  1980s.