Kaitaki Rail Conversion
Length of rail
- 516 meters
Cost
- $20 – 25million
Increase in mass - 200 tonnes
Estimated Costs
1) Conversion of Vessel (Supplied by Sembawang Shipyard)
$6,000,000
• Inserting of rail into deck
• Installation of new stern door
• Installation of buffers
• Installation of heeling system
2) Shore based Rail infrastructure (Supplied by Ontrack)
$2,600,000
• 4 turnouts Wellington, 1 turnout Picton
• formation and ballast
• Rail
• Link span track
3) Link span (Supplied by TTS Sweden and Ontrack)
$13,200,000
• Design, installation commissioning
• Concrete foundations
Not included are;
Stern door design and manufacture
Est $500,000
Passenger gangway changes
Potential Issues
1) Loading/ Unloading Top Deck of Kaitaki by Stern door only
In the situation where Kaitaki loads and unloads via the stern at both sides of Cook Strait, trucks wil be required to
access the top deck off the lower deck via the tilt ramps. Trucks wil be difficult to manoeuvre into position that they can
unload at the other end off the same ramp. It is likely that loading of trucks wil require more time and fewer trucks wil be
able to be loaded on the top deck in order to achieve this.
2) Vessel Bending Moments under load
Currently Kaitaki operates close to it’s maximum bending moment. Further work is required to confirm that when fully
loaded with rail and trucks, the vessel’s maximum bending moment wil not be exceeded.
3) Passenger gangway redevelopment
Lengthening of the link span at both Wellington and Picton wil require the passenger gangway to be lengthened by an
equivalent amount. There are no structures that wil allow this to be undertaken without setting new piles into the sea
floor.
The linkspan has been designed to accommodate all 3 vessels however no costing or design work has been carried out
for a passenger gangway that wil accommodate all 3 vessels.
4) Impact of new rail lines on terminal operations
No work has been carried out on the impact of additional rail lines at both Picton and Wellington crossing vehicle
marshalling areas.
5) Kaitaki loading/ unloading time
Work is required to determine the loading and unloading time where Kaitaki is loaded with rail and road vehicles.
6) Working area between internal ramp structure and rail
There wil be limited space between the posts supporting the internal tilt ramps an Kaitkai and any rail wagons moving
down the port side inner rake. Operating procedures wil need to be established that prevent any crew or rail operators
being present in this area while shunt operations are being undertaken
Linkspan Details
• Proposed link span future proofed to cover all 3 Interislander vessels, designed to be able to add a top deck and be
transportable to a new berth if required
• Length of link span determined by meeting max allowable transition angles for rail (2.3 degrees)
• Transition angles determined by max/min tide variation and freeboard height of vessel(s)
• If link span designed to be Kaitaki capable only, then length reduces by approx 20m
Document Outline
