By Dr Philip Laird OAM
Before the October 2023 election, the then Labour Government and the National Party in opposition released detailed transport policies that put the emphasis on maintaining and expanding roads. The inconvenient truth is that encouraging road transport while needing to reduce carbon emissions simply does not add up.
Transport is responsible for 17 per cent of New Zealand’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Furthermore, road vehicle use has been increasing, as has the popularity of larger cars and SUVs that create more emissions per kilometre. Road congestion has become worse, with the popular response being to expand road capacity.
The main thrust of the National’s Transport for the Future policy was more urban and intercity roads. The outgoing government had plans for a second harbour crossing in Auckland, with two road tunnels. There was bipartisan support for a second Mount Victoria road tunnel in Wellington.
In the background sits the former government’s Rail Plan, which set out the ‘vision and priorities for rail over the next decade and beyond’; however, given the clear need for New Zealand’s transport policies to change, the planned improvements need to be on a fast track.
Light rail right next door
Cars and planes are convenient, but have low energy efficiency when compared to rail. A car’s carbon emissions per passenger kilometre can be around four times that of domestic rail. The former government’s transport plans for Auckland did include light rail, but the Nationals, as promised before the election, have now scrapped this scheme. Looking across the Tasman, there is compelling evidence that light rail should be at least considered.
Few might have predicted that Queensland’s Gold Coast Light Rail network – G:link, which opened in July 2014 – would get six million riders in its first 12 months of operation. Work started on a second stage within 24 months, with construction of a third stage now underway.
The system has now had more than 75 million paid passenger trips since it opened, with 10.39 million in the 2022–23 financial year.
In 2019, three other new light rail systems opened in Australia: a short section in Newcastle, another in Canberra (where post-COVID-19 patronage is recovering), and Sydney’s CBD and South East lines (where patronage is also bouncing back). Adelaide’s single line was also extended during the 2010s.
The combined patronage of all of these new light rail systems, however, is far exceeded by Melbourne’s trams, now building back to pre-COVID-19 levels of 205 million rides in 2018–19.
This is all part of a remarkable renaissance of light rail around the world. New Zealand could be part of this – if the will was there.
The freight factor
New Zealand’s historical shift from rail to road as the primary mode of freight transport has led to an ever-increasing dependence on trucks. While road freight grew steadily in the first two decades of this century, rail freight in 2021–22 was the same as it was in 1999–2000.
Road freight does have some advantages, including point-to-point delivery and flexibility. But for many freight movements, using trucks rather than rail increases emissions by a factor of three. If reducing freight emissions is still the goal – and this is doubtful, as emissions have been set aside in the recent draft government policy statement on land transport 2024–34 – shifting some from road to rail is a logical solution.
To reduce emissions further, rail will have to increase its own energy efficiency. This will include the electrification of rail routes, such as the Auckland-Hamilton-Tauranga route, which was hinted at in the former government’s 2023 Federal Budget.
Increasing the allowable axle loading for freight wagons across the rail network would also allow trains to carry heavier loads, improve efficiency and reduce emissions.
Finally, the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) needs upgrading to make the track straighter, which will allow trains to go faster. One option, investigated in 2008, was for a 10-kilometre Marton bypass on well-aligned track, which would allow NIMT trains to avoid a 17-kilometre slow-running section. This would save 15 minutes of transit time and reduce fuel use, as well as maintenance costs.
In turn, this will make rail more attractive and help reduce emissions.
When’s the next train?
Clearly, roads need to be maintained, and New Zealand’s road network has to be made more resilient to adverse weather. But expanding road capacity at the expense of a more efficient rail system and improved public transport is a recipe for increasing emissions.
While road congestion in major cities is a problem, overseas experience tells us that more road capacity only increases vehicle use. The net result is more, not fewer, transport emissions.
It would make more sense to upgrade the rail network to move more freight, and transport more urban and intercity passengers. In fact, the Transport and Infrastructure Select Committee recommended during winter 2023 that the Ministry of Transport investigate how the rail plan could better incorporate inter-regional passenger rail.
But New Zealand needs to move beyond recommendations. As the International Energy Agency has noted: ‘Rail transport is the most energy-efficient and least carbon-intensive way to move people and second only to shipping for carrying goods.’
The new government does have an opportunity to put New Zealand transport on the right track. On the evidence so far, however, it could be a very slow train coming and New Zealand transport is now moving backwards.
About the author
Dr Philip Laird OAM grew up and worked in New Zealand, and is now an Honorary Associate Professor at the University of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia.
This article is based on, and updates, one that appeared with references in August 2023 on The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/slow-train-coming-only-a-genuine-shift-to-rail-will-put-nz-on-track-to-reduce-emissions-211662).