Resources

Here are some resources that provide more in-depth information on rail licensing in New Zealand. Some set out the requirements rail operations must meet. Others offer guidance and information. There are publications, manuals, reports and legislation. We've also included rail licence application and accident notification forms.

Rail Safety Newsletters

• Rail safety update : news update from the NZ Transport Agency rail safety team for the rail industry and safety assessors.

Legislation

• Railways Act 2005

• Railways Regulations 2008

• Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992

• Machinery Act 1950

• Transport Accident Investigation Commission Act 1990

Guidelines and manuals

• Rail safety licensing and safety assessment guidelines : key guidelines on the safety management of railways in New Zealand

• Traffic control devices manual, Part 9, Level crossings : guidelines for providing traffic control devices, including signs and markings on the approaches to, and at, railway level crossings on New Zealand roads

• NZ Transport Agency policy concerning the introduction of rail vehicles : a guideline to the process for introducing new rail vehicles to New Zealand

• National Rail System Standards (NRSS) : the latest versions of the NRSS documents on the KiwiRail website.

Reports and reviews

• Rail action plan: continuous improvement in rail safety regulation

  Rail action plan: continuous improvement in rail safety regulation

  This outlines the areas in rail safety that we will focus attention on over the next few years. (December 2013)

• Best practice international solutions for mitigating human factor causes of signal passed at danger

  This is a tool commissioned by the New Zealand Transport Agency that allows rail participants to explore their strengths and weaknesses for SPAD risk reduction. It is accompanied by a report describing the development and application of the tool. (August 2016)

• Magic bullet or swiss cheese?  Presentation and conference papers from the Fifth International Rail Human Factors conference, August 2016.

• Signals Passed At Danger (SPAD).  Article published in Rail Engineer , March 2016 (page 72).

• International benchmarking of rail safety indicators

  This identifies lead and lag indicators that could be used in the New Zealand rail environment, based on comparison with appropriate operations in the international rail industry. Actions required to implement this benchmarking are discussed. (March 2016)

Forms

• Rail licence application form : for people and organisations wanting to apply for rail licences

• NZ Transport Agency rail incident/accident report form : to be used when reporting rail accidents or incidents.

Links to other rail-related websites

Please note that we are not responsible for the content of these websites, which may not always reflect our policy or practice.

• Dunedin Railways

  Australasian Railway Association

• KiwiRail

  Tracksafe NZ

• Transdev Auckland

  Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

• Transdev Wellington

• Federation of Rail Organisations of New Zealand

• NZ Trains and Trams

• Greater Wellington Regional Council

• KiwiRail

• Ministry of Transport

• Taieri Gorge Railway

• Transport Accident Investigation Commission

• Transdev Auckland

• Auckland Transport