New era for Johnsonville train travellers

Posted on 19 March 2012 by

Passengers travelling to and from Johnsonville will today make their journeys on the first new trains on the Line in 60 years.

Peter Glensor, chair of Greater Wellington’s Economic Wellbeing Committee, which oversees  public transport, says from late this morning every train to and from Johnsonville will be a new Matangi train.

 “These are the first new trains on the Johnsonville Line in more than 60 years, so it’s a significant milestone for the region’s rail network.”

“Johnsonville rail commuters have been waiting a long time for these new trains, and while it is both a happy and sad moment to see the English Electrics retired from service on the Johnsonville line, we have had our challenges in keeping them running,” says KiwiRail’s General Manager of Passenger Services, Deborah Hume.  

“Having Matangi now operating all services on the Johnsonville line is a much anticipated improvement to Tranz Metro’s reliability and capacity on this line. I would like to acknowledge the patience of Johnsonville customers, and am very pleased to be able to be able to offer passengers a more efficient, comfortable and reliable service,” Ms Hume says.

The last English Electric services will run to Johnsonville at 10.32am and from Johnsonville at 11am.

“Johnsonville commuters travelling home today will enter a new era of train travel.  We’re getting very positive feedback about the new trains. They feel modern and spacious, they’re air-conditioned, and the public address systems are top quality.

Peter Glensor says passengers on the Johnsonville Line will be able to take cycles on the new trains at any time – peak hour and non-peak hour. “Passengers cannot take their cycles on Matangi trains on the other lines (Upper Hutt and Kapiti) during peak times because they take up seating space which is in high demand. However, peak hour passengers numbers are lower on the Johnsonville Line so we’re trialling this change in the cycles on trains policy. It will be reviewed in a few months’ time.”

A of work has been done on the line to accommodate the bigger, modern trains. This work, which was led by KiwiRail and cost $17m, included:

• Lowering and widening the seven tunnels on the line
• Lowering a rail bridge in Ngaio Gorge and lowering the track under the Raroa Station overbridge
• Lengthening the three crossing loops at Ngaio, Khandallah and Wadestown to enable longer trains to run
• Reconstruction of some platforms and upgrades to the rest at all eight stations
• Installation of a new power substation at Ngaio

“The line is also very steep, rising to 150 metres above sea level, which was one of the many challenges we had to meet with the design of the new trains. And we’re delighted that they’ve passed all the Johnsonville tests with flying colours.

More than half of the new Matangi fleet, 28 out of 48 trains, has been approved for service. Almost 75 percent of the fleet has been delivered to Wellington. All the trains are expected to be in Wellington within the next six months and in service before the end of the year. 

For more information, please contact

Peter Glensor, Greater Wellington,  027 241 5152
Sophie Lee, KiwiRail, 04 498 3181 027 435 9464

Background information attached.

Some background information

• The Johnsonville Line is a 10.5 km suburban passenger railway line between Johnsonville in the north and the Wellington Railway Station in the south.  The stations served by the line are: Johnsonville; Raroa; Khandallah; Box Hill; Simla Crescent; Awarua Street; Ngaio; Crofton Downs and Wellington. More than 100,000 journeys are made on the line each month.
• It is a single track line with seven tunnels, and three sets of passing loops - at Wadestown, Ngaio Station and Khandallah Station.  The line rises approximately 150m from Wellington Station to Johnsonville and the line’s ruling gradient is 1 in 20.4. 
• The Thorndon-Tawa (via Johnsonville) line was opened in 1885 by the Wellington & Manawatu Railway Company after blasting through significant amounts of rock and negotiating steep gorges.  The Company later sold the line to the Government in 1908 which in turn fell into disuse after the 1937 completion of the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) Railway Tawa deviation, which allowed the steeply graded Johnsonville saddle to be bypassed.
• Wellington City Council was subsequently offered the use of the line for the City’s tramway network, but the offer was declined.  This resulted in the Government deciding to close the Tawa to Johnsonville section of the line.  In 1938 the Government upgraded the remaining Johnsonville to Wellington section, resulting in New Zealand’s first electrified suburban passenger railway, using purpose-built electric multiple unit trains and making Wellington the third city in Australasia to electrify its first suburban railway line. 
• The first of three batches of English Electric Multiple Unit trains were introduced between 1938 and 1953 – and some of these are still in service.  The last English Electric will run on the Johnsonville Line at 11am on Monday March 19, meeting the first Matangi at Ngaio Station. A small number of English Electrics will continue to run on other lines for a few months. A decision will be made soon about what will be done with them when they are taken out of service.
• From Monday 19 March the line will be served by a fleet of 12 Matangi cars. Four-car sets will be used for all peak hour services and two-car sets for off-peak services.

For more information, contact our media team.

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