THE New Zealand government has agreed to back plans to modernise the suburban rail network in the country's third-largest city Wellington. Under the deal, the government will contribute $NZ 88 million ($US 65.5 million) to complete infrastructure upgrades while Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) will borrow $NZ 80 million to refurbish Metlink's fleet of 43 EM class emus built by Ganz-Mavag, Hungary, which it will then assume ownership of from KiwiRail.
THE New Zealand government has agreed to back plans to modernise the suburban rail network in the country's third-largest city Wellington. Under the deal, the government will contribute $NZ 88 million ($US 65.5 million) to complete infrastructure upgrades while Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) will borrow $NZ 80 million to refurbish Metlink's fleet of 43 EM class emus built by Ganz-Mavag, Hungary, which it will then assume ownership of from KiwiRail.
One of these trains (pictured) has already been refurbished to assess passenger reaction and the cost of the upgrade. GWMC says refurbishing these trains will be less costly than acquiring more FP class Matangi emus, 40 of which are currently being supplied by Hyundai-Rotem, Korea.
The retention of the Ganz-Mavag units will allow Metlink to operate the full peak service following the completion of the $NZ 550 million upgrade of the suburban network, and increase services on the Wairaarpa line.
GWRC and KiwiRail plan to sign new performance-based maintenance, operating, and track access contracts later this year. However, in the longer term, GWRC proposes that it should have the right to test the market for an alternative operator and maintainer.
Photo: David Parsons
