Battery electric hybrid, to be exact, with no diesel involved. Scheduled to arrive 2028-2029
That’s awesome! It’s not all that long ago that every year they were talking about cancelling the train from Palmy to Wellington. Now they are doubling capacity?
I’m pretty happy about the Masterton one getting electrified too.
Although to be honest I’d like to see movement towards electrified heavy freight.
The issue with heavy freight is the Wellington trains use 1.5kv DC, and the main trunk and Auckland metro island 25kv AC. So a locomotive capable of running from Auckland to Wellington would need to accept two very different voltages.
A problem made worse by the fact our rail gauge can’t take much weight, so adding this tech to a diesel loco would be very difficult.
Yeah, I’ve heard this issue before. Is it too much to ask that we think of these things before substantial investment? Wellington has just replaced a significant amount of their overhead lines.
There’s a big difference between renewing the existing lines, and completely changing the system. You’re increasing the operating voltage more than 10x, the insulators and clearance required would be huge. You’d have to raise bridges, lower the floors of tunnels, completely renew the poles, lines, and insulators, all while keeping the lines running during the day.
Not only that, but this would require massive alterations to the rolling stock once the change happens, which would have to be done all at once after you switch voltages.
I understand the sentiment, but it would be an absolute boondoggle.
Oh yes, of course it would be a massive job. But I’m just saying, maybe someone should have a plan. As far as I can tell, no one has a unified plan for what we want our rail network to look like in 50 years.
Pity it’s not sooner but will be great when it comes. The Wairarapa trains are often standing room only during peak times and the lack of options is pretty poor too. Any idea of these will be any faster or just more regular?
Probably not much faster, although they can probably accelerate faster than a diesel unit.
