Transport Minister Michael Wood says earth moving under part of Auckland’s Western Line is "exactly the reason" why there needs to be closures of the wider passenger rail network for upgrades.
From today, an entire track has shut due to a slip that’s occurred beneath it, between New Lynn and Fruitvale Road stations.
KiwiRail on Wednesday evening said that its staff and specialist geotechnical engineers found the slip had caused cracks in the bank beneath the rail corridor.
"In addition, a few sections of concrete retaining wall below the rail line have moved," chief operating officer for rail operations Siva Sivapakkiam said in a statement.
"We are continuing to monitor the ground in the area for any further movement."
Trains are still operating on the parallel line, but at a significantly slower speed and reduced timetable from today, after KiwiRail discovered the problem on Monday during a routine inspection.
"Our initial priority is to establish the extent and depth of the ground movement and what measures may be able to be taken in the short term to allow us to fully reopen the line safely," KiwiRail's Siva Sivapakkiam said.
It’s expected the assessment will be completed in the coming days, then design and plans for a full repair can begin.
Transport Minister Michael Wood said the stability issue is "reflective of decades of deferred maintenance" in the rail sector.
Last week, KiwiRail and Auckland Transport announced much of the network would be shutting for several months from Christmas for an almost complete rebuild, affecting up to 250,000 commuters.
"This is exactly the reason we need to do that, some of the ballast put on Auckland’s rail lines was put there in the 1870s, and has basically had nothing done to it since then," Wood said.
The Western Line underwent a significant upgrade between 2005 and 2010 to allow for double-tracking all the way from Swanson to Britomart.
Auckland councillor for the Waitākere ward Shane Henderson said he was “let down” and “extremely frustrated” and was writing a “please explain” letter for more answers over the slip.
“Not quite sure how I'm supposed to tell West Aucklanders with a straight face that they should consider taking public transport,” he wrote on Twitter.
Workers could be seen assessing the site of the problem on Wednesday, which is near two streams, a creek, and a wetland.
KiwiRail says it believes the ground is the root of the issue, rather than the foundation the trains sit on.
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