Shed 39, 2 Fryatt Quay
Pipitea, Wel ington 6011
PO Box 11646
By email
Manners Street
Wel ington 6142
27 February 2017
T 04 384 5708
F 04 385 6960
www.gw.govt.nz
File Ref: OIAP-7-3039
Iain Palmer
[FYI request #5300 email]
Dear Mr Palmer
Request for information OIA 2017-011
I refer to your request for information dated 29 January 2017, which was received by Greater
Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) on 29 January 2017. You have requested the following
information:
“
What KPI have been used to measure the performance and reliability of the Wairarapa Connection
Service over the last three years to 31st December 2016?
What have been the results of these KPI's?
What changes during this time period have been taken to improve the performance of the Wairarapa
Connection, how have they been reflected in KPI results and where they successful?
What future changes are planned to improve the performance and reliability of the Wairarapa
Connection?
Are there any changes to the KPI reporting following start of the the new contract, if so how how
long will the retired KPI be retained?”
GWRC’s response follows.
1. KPI used to measure performance and reliability of the Wairarapa Connection Services
over the last three years to 31st December 2016
Until the start of the new rail partnering contract in July 2016, the performance (punctuality) of
Wairarapa Line services was being measured using the reported deviations from scheduled
arrival times into Wellington Station and departure times out of Wellington Station. Any service
arriving or departing Wellington Station under 5 minutes from the scheduled arrival or
departure times was counted as on time.
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The measure only applied to Wellington Station, and the punctuality target for the Wairarapa
Line was 85% over that period. Under the previous rail contract, reliability was measured as the
percentage of timetabled services that were actually delivered.
The new rail contract uses new measures for punctuality and reliability as outlined under
question 5 below. Performance monitoring under the new contract now includes outer stations
to measure punctuality and uses new criteria for measuring reliability.
2. KPI report for the Wairarapa Connection services over the last three years to 31st
December 2016
Attached is the KPI report for the Wairarapa Connection services over the last three years to 31
December 2016.
3. Improvements made to performance of the Wairarapa Connection services
The following improvements have been made to enhance performance of the Wairarapa
Connection services over the last three years:
Changes to locomotive types in July 2015
Locomotives running the Wairarapa Line services were changed from DC Class to DFB Class
in July 2015. DFB Class locomotives could run a service 8 minutes faster than DC Class
locomotives allowing the services to pick up time in certain sections.
Investment into track maintenance for a period between July 2015 and July 2017
There has been 2.8 million dollars of extra funding invested in network maintenance from July
2015 to July 2017. This investment has been to bring the decaying track condition back up to
workable standard levels. The initial tranche of funding improved punctuality in March and
April 2016, but this work has been ongoing.
20 November 2016 timetable change
A minor timetable change was put in place to solve some congestion issues down the Wairarapa
line. Hutt Valley Line services were scheduled to go through Taita Station and Upper Hutt
Station at the same time. Minor time changes have removed this issue. This has provided better
performance for services running into Wellington.
4. Plans for improvement of the Wairarapa Connection services
Timetable change planned for September 2017
There is a network wide timetable change being planned for September 2017. This is expected
to further resolve the issues regarding the congestion that happens once the Wairarapa Line
services reach Upper Hutt.
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Making SE and SW carriages compatible
There is an on-going work to make the SE and SW carriages compatible. This will allow the
sets to be mixed and will improve flexibility for planning and delays so that if there is an issue
with one carriage, the rail operator can use the other carriage to replace it. We are also
continuing to work with Kiwi Rail to focus the activities on the most affected areas on the rail
network where the works can improve performance of the service.
5. Changes to the KPI reporting following start of the new rail contract since 3 July 2016
Punctuality is now measured at origin, intermediate and destination stations where the old
measurement was only monitoring arrivals and departures from Wellington Station. For the
Wairarapa line the new measurement includes timings at Wellington Station, Waterloo Station,
Upper Hutt Station, Featherston Station, and Masterton Station.
For a service to be measured as reliable there are three criteria that the service must meet. The
service must:
• Leave no earlier than 30 seconds from origin and intermediate stations
• Meet the correct consist size (i.e. correct number of carriages)
• Stop at all scheduled stations.
Rather than using a performance target, the performance monitoring arrangement under the new
rail partnering contract uses an abatement scheme that applies to each service and charges a
performance based deduction to the operator for the punctuality and reliability failures
attributed to the operator. Therefore, in effect the new rail contract expects 100% of services to
be reliable or punctual and charges the rail operator for each and every service that is late or
unreliable to incentivise higher performance. Accordingly, the attached performance tables do
not identify status of KPIs against targets for the new performance measures since July 2016.
Punctuality has been monitored using both old and new measures since July 2016 in order to
retain the continuity and consistency of data and enable comparisons between the service
performance during the same periods before and after July 2016.
If you have any concerns with the decision(s) referred to in this letter, you have the right to request
an investigation and review by the Ombudsman under section 27(3) of the Local Government
Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.
Yours sincerely
Wayne Hastie
General Manager
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Public Transport
Appendix 1. Performance of Wairarapa Connection services
A) Punctuality of Wairarapa Connection services between January 2014 and December 2016
On Time Performance KPI equals or
On Time Performance
Month
Month
(old measure*)
greater than 85%
(new measure**)
Jan-14
70.50%
No
Feb-14
71.60%
No
Mar-14
81.80%
No
Apr-14
71.50%
No
May-14
70.00%
No
Jun-14
82.60%
No
Jul-14
76.30%
No
Aug-14
87.10%
Yes
Sep-14
87.70%
Yes
Oct-14
88.20%
Yes
Nov-14
81.80%
No
Dec-14
82.20%
No
Jan-15
63.40%
No
Feb-15
72.80%
No
Mar-15
68.60%
No
Apr-15
50.70%
No
May-15
61.60%
No
Jun-15
67.50%
No
Jul-15
78.10%
No
Aug-15
86.40%
Yes
Sep-15
82.70%
No
Oct-15
82.30%
No
Nov-15
78.00%
No
Dec-15
61.00%
No
Jan-16
68.00%
No
Feb-16
71.70%
No
Mar-16
86.00%
Yes
Apr-16
93.20%
Yes
May-16
78.30%
No
Jun-16
76.50%
No
Jul-16
82.42%
No
Jul-16
70.54%
Aug-16
78.33%
No
Aug-16
71.04%
Sep-16
77.10%
No
Sep-16
57.80%
Oct-16
70.34%
No
Oct-16
52.40%
Nov-16
73.22%
No
Nov-16
49.10%
Dec-16
63.91%
No
Dec-16
41.70%
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B) Reliability of Wairarapa Connection services between January 2014 and December 2016
Old reliability
KPI equals or greater
New reliability
Month
Month
measure
than 99.4%
measure
Jan-14
100.00%
Yes
Feb-14
100.00%
Yes
Mar-14
100.00%
Yes
Apr-14
100.00%
Yes
May-14
100.00%
Yes
Jun-14
99.60%
Yes
Jul-14
100.00%
Yes
Aug-14
99.20%
No
Sep-14
99.60%
Yes
Oct-14
100.00%
Yes
Nov-14
100.00%
Yes
Dec-14
100.00%
Yes
Jan-15
100.00%
Yes
Feb-15
99.80%
Yes
Mar-15
100.00%
Yes
Apr-15
100.00%
Yes
May-15
93.80%
No
Jun-15
100.00%
Yes
Jul-15
100.00%
Yes
Aug-15
99.60%
Yes
Sep-15
99.60%
Yes
Oct-15
100.00%
Yes
Nov-15
100.00%
Yes
Dec-15
99.20%
No
Jan-16
100.00%
Yes
Feb-16
99.20%
No
Mar-16
100.00%
Yes
Apr-16
100.00%
Yes
May-16
100.00%
Yes
Jun-16
100.00%
Yes
Jul-16
Jul-16
89.17%
Aug-16
Aug-16
95.83%
Sep-16
Sep-16
99.20%
Oct-16
Oct-16
97.50%
Nov-16
Nov-16
89.30%
Dec-16
Dec-16
98.30%
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