Subscribe to RSSWgtn Rail Changes Signed
Wellington’s Metro Rail changes have been signed and sealed today.
It includes improvements to Wellington’s metropolitan rail network and a change of owner for the metropolitan trains and stations.
And Greater Wellington has approved, in principle, the refurbishment of the 29-year-old Ganz Mavag fleet.
- Greater Wellington Rail Limited (GWRL) takes ownership of the 88-car Ganz Mavag fleet, EMU Maintenance Depot and station buildings (except for Wellington Station)
- GWRL will fund the $80 million refurbishment of the Ganz Mavag fleet and will continue to fund station maintenance and improvements with support from Government
- KiwiRail continues as train operator for metropolitan passenger services, although Greater Wellington will have the right to test the market in the future.
- Greater Wellington and KiwiRail will develop performance based network, operating and rolling stock maintenance agreements
- The Government retains ownership of the track, signals, power supply etc and will fund an $88 million programme of catch-up renewal work
Chair of Greater Wellington Regional Council, Fran Wilde says Greater Wellington has approved, in principle, the refurbishment of the 29-year-old Ganz Mavag fleet.
“We can either replace or refurbish the fleet. Based on our preliminary analysis of the options, refurbishment makes the most economic and practical sense.
When the 96 new Matangi cars are all in passenger service, they’ll be able to deliver all off-peak services but more trains will be needed to meet peak hour demand. “Clearly, if we had unlimited funds another fleet of brand new trains would be ideal but the time taken to build these is also a factor that we need to consider. If we are to provide for growing rail passenger numbers we’ll require all the Ganz and Matangi units to operate reliably and deliver a high standard of passenger comfort.”
A prototype refurbished two-car Ganz Mavag unit is running on the Hutt and Kapiti Lines and is about half-way through its in-service evaluation.
Wellington's spruced up Ganz-Mavang
Fran Wilde says the package enables the contination of much needed rail work following on from all that’s been done over the last three or four years to prepare the network for the new Matangi trains. The network has improved out of sight thanks to all that work – and this package means that less disruptive catch-up work, not related directly to the Matangi trains, can be done.
“Greater Wellington’s ownership of the metropolitan trains, maintenance depot and station buildings makes good sense, given our regional public transport responsibilities. We have a proven record as a competent owner and manager of rail assets including the Wairarapa trains, the Matangi trains and Waterloo and Petone Stations; this package allows us to continue the good work.”
3 Comments
Model for AK then?
The Wellington’s Metro Rail changes package being signed today does not “include improvements to Wellington’s metropolitan rail network “. It simply funds the cost over-runs from the Wellington Rail Programme including needing more capacity in the power system than planned because the Matangi’s are drawing more power than expected. Commuters will NOT see any addition services that were not already promised under the previous plan.
“The deal” is the government is funding the required infrastructure improvements (some required for safety) in return for the GWRC paying a much higher portion of the ongoing costs including station buildings and an increase in track access fees of around $3M/year. This also means the GWRC has increased its exposure to poor services leading to a loss of commuters, a loss of fare revenue and therefore another subsidy blowout.
A model for Auckland ? It sure is !
Has anybody read the article in the Dompost about the signing?
Have a read of the article and the 22 odd comments about it -
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/5236334/168m-Wellington-rail-package-signed
Has anybody in NZ thought of the tram/train concept being used in Karlsruhe - Germany?
The system uses mainline Dueschebhan tracks, as well as street running.
These tram/trains use dual power 15,000volts AC on mainline heavy rail and 600 volts DC on street running.
Maybe this should a had been looked at for Wellington with a street running from the railway station to Courtney Place.
This proposal of railway station to Courtney Place operation using light rail has been around for at least 20 years.
See tram-train in action at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzFgSOTUVPM