Matangi news

The first of  Wellington's new Matangi trains is due to arrive in August and passengers can expect to be onboard before Christmas.

Forty-eight two car units are being built for Greater Wellington at the Hyundai-Rotem factory in Changwon, South Korea.

The unit will go from the port to Wellington rail yards for thorough testing.  As well as a complete testing of the train, we’ll need to be sure that everything on the network – such as signalling, power supply and platforms – are working for the new trains.

The new trains will arrive regularly from August until towards the end of 2011.

Testing of the first units will take place on the Hutt Valley line, and could take a couple of months. It is expected they will be carrying passengers before Christmas.

The new trains will run initially on the Hutt Valley line, then Johnsonville, followed by Kapiti. New trains will be running on all lines by June 2011.

When there are sufficient numbers of new trains in service, they will replace the 12 English Electric cars that run on the Johnsonville Line. So there will be a temporary reduction in the number of Matangi trains on the Hutt Valley line for a short time.

The entire 37-car English Electric fleet will be retired when there are enough Matangi trains in service. A decision on whether to replace or fully refurbish the GanzMavag fleet will be made by Greater Wellington later this year; a prototype refurbishment is under way at KiwiRail’s Woburn workshops.

Features of the new Matangi trains include a modern, stainless steel body; a low floor multi-function area in one car of each two-car unit for passengers with wheelchairs, buggies and bicycles; air-conditioned cooling and heating; doors operating on demand; open movement between a two-car unit; hearing loops in all cars; a public address system; and information systems with automated visual and audio next station information.

 

Preparing for the arrival of the new trains

A substantial amount of work needs to be done to prepare for the new trains. A number of platforms need to be altered to accommodate the bigger trains; more sub-stations are needed to power the new trains and signalling systems need to be upgraded. Download this brochure to read about work that is being done on Wellington’s railway to both prepare specifically for the new trains, and generally improve and upgrade the network.

All the work is part of the Wellington Region Rail Improvement Programme, a joint initiative by KiwiRail (ONTRACK and Tranz Metro) and Greater Wellington Regional Council.

 
Redwood Station: temporary closure from Monday 8 February 2010
The station will be closed for around four months, so a new platform can be built for the new trains, and other work - similar to that carried out at Pukerua Bay Station - will be done at the same time.

More carparks will be available temporarily at Tawa Station during this time.

Check Tranz Metro for information about when buses replace trains because lines are closed, to enable work to continue.