Article written by Simon Cave – Sector Lead – Rail, and Senior Principal – Project Management
The week of 11 – 17 August 2025 saw two major rail calendar events coincide in New Zealand – these being Rail Safety Week and the Conference on Railway Excellence (CORE). Both of these events are extremely important to Vitruvius, as they promote safety and technical excellence, which are both intrinsic to our DNA.
Those active in the Rail Sector will be well aware of the importance of Rail Safety Week, an annual nationwide campaign run by the wonderful team at TrackSAFE NZ. This year the campaign slogan was ‘Stay off, Stay safe. Tracks are for trains’. The focus was highlighting the critical risks associated with trespass within the rail corridor. All too often, pedestrians venture into restricted areas of the rail corridor to save time. It is not only extremely risky to do so but is also illegal. The only place pedestrians should be entering the rail corridor is at a designated crossing point, where there are controls in place to mitigate hazards from trains.
Vitruvius supported the campaign across the motu, with our teams in Wellington, Tauranga and Auckland handing out flyers to raise awareness about these risks and encourage better behaviour regarding best practice for pedestrians around the rail corridor. Recent TrackSAFE research indicates that almost half of surveyed participants admit to walking across railway tracks outside designated crossing areas. Last year alone these were 642 recorded trespass incidents, resulting in 60 near misses with trains. These sobering statistics highlight the obvious need for increased awareness and drive home the reasons for doing what we do.
In addition to Rail Safety week, the sector also came together in Tāmaki Makaurau on 13 and 14 August where more than 400 delegates gathered for the annual CORE Conference, hosted by our good friends at the Railway Technical Society of Australasia (RTSA). The conference was well attended by both Kiwis and Aussies alike, with some really insightful technical presentations. It was a fantastic chance for some of the industry’s brightest rail minds to come together and discuss the future of this critical transport mode. It was also really interesting to see some of the similarities (and differences) in the way we work here in New Zealand compared with Australia.
A highlight for us was seeing our very own Simon Cave present on the European Train Control System (ETCS) Digital Integration, focusing on how developing a digital twin can improve project outcomes by removing unknowns and giving design and construction teams unimpeded access into the virtual rail corridor.
This was the first time CORE has been hosted in New Zealand in 15 years – and at a time when focus on technical rail expertise is really important for our future – reinforcing the conference theme ‘Kaitiaki – Guarding the Future’. A great example of some of the challenges faced by skills shortage in the New Zealand rail industry can be seen in a recent paper released by the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) here.
We finished out the week feeling inspired by the passion and effort put into these two events and it really highlighted just how important the rail network is to our country.
If anyone wants to learn more about Rail Safety Week, please visit the TrackSAFE NZ Website here. We’re also really looking forward to attending next years CORE Event which will be held in Adelaide.
Over and out!
