NZR article on NIMT electrification

On 26 June 1986, the Evening Post ran a "Transport Review" segment focused on freight, below is the one page (minus ads) on the North Island Main Trunk electrification project (Te Rapa to Palmerston North) that was underway at the time.

Key points made were:

• Electrification was considered in 1949, 1950, 1954 and 1973
• Cabinet in 1981 approved the project
• At the time nearly half of all freight carried by rail was between Hamilton and Palmerston North
• The line was predicted to be saturated with traffic, restricted by the number of trains that could operate on the single tracked line and the power of diesel locomotives available at the time
• $10m was being spent at the time on easing curves and realignments to make maximum use of the speed increase available from electrification (enabling 1200 tonne trains at 40 km/h). 
• The total cost at the time was estimated to be $200m (it turned out to be around $360m).
• Stage one of the project (Palmerston North to Taihape) was well advanced, with work starting on stage two. Full operation was scheduled to commence in June 1988 (and it did).
• Noted was the installation of fibre optics for communications, because the conventional overhead railway copper wire signalling system would face interference from high voltage AC current. 
• Five level crossings were removed between Palmerston North and Feilding.

Ultimately, the project would require the Government to write off the debt, as the predicted demand did not ensue, not least because in 1982 the deregulation of land transport meant competition from road freight would reduce pressure on the network. In essence, the Railways Corporation would never save enough from lower train operating costs to offset the cost of capital for the project. Part of the restructuring of the Railways Corporation into NZ Rail Ltd in 1990, was the writing off of the debt for this project (in that it was taken over by the Crown in exchange for shifting the rail business into the new SOE).