Great Western Coffee Shop

Caught an announcement that Kiwi rail is withdrawing electric haulage from Palmerston North to Hamilton over the central plateaux  due to cost of engine changes on Wellington Auckland freights. The ironic thing is they have to keep the power on to prevent theft of the overhead!

The passenger train has been diesel hauled throughout from 2013/4 although I had an EF in 2012 I've got video of the engine changes.

Hopefully the Auckland electrification will be extended to Hamilton one day. Although Kiwi Rail is fully occupied restoring theSI mainline.

Talking to some drivers on the route they are not going to be too happy they love the Brush EF B0-Bo-Bo elctrics describng them as Rolls Royces. They hate the Chinese DL Co Co diesels

Interesting point.
Presume the Brush (=English) are older than the Chinese ones?
Therefore more worn in?!
Does the BoBoBo arrangement give better ride/ grip than a Co Co?
W.E

Details:

http://www.kiwirail.co.nz/news/450/78/KiwiRail-announces-fleet-decision-on-North-Island-line.html

Rather silly statement.

“Imagine having to change planes at Hamilton and again at Palmerston North, just to fly from Auckland to Wellington. That’s not efficient, it’s more costly and ultimately delivers a less reliable service."

Probably not more than 5 minutes and as they probably change drivers Palmerston North and Hamilton as well the train will be stopping anyway.

The DLs are only 7 years old. One of the reasons the drivers don't like then is that they are difficult to operate in multiple with the older GM and GE Diesels due to different engine management software. It's difficult to get them in harmony particularly on gradients and poor rail conditions.

The EF's are a 1984 design from Brush an ancestor of the bo bo bo engines built to haul the Eurotunnel shuttles. The problem is thought that only the central portion of the NIMT was electrified at 25kV, the southern part is 1500V DC, but there's a gap between the two, as is there between Hamilton and Auckland, and in any case, Auckland's recent electrification wasn't really done with electric freight in mind, not to mention that it's highly unlikely the signalling could cope with the EMF coming out of 1980's locos.

Of course the sensible thing would be to plug the gaps in electrification, which IIRC is only something like 180km, buy a fleet of new dual voltage locos with last mile diesel engines, and beef up the power supplies at either end. Beyond the environmental benefits (NZ having fairly plentiful renewable energy), that would have all sorts of benefits and enable passenger services to be speeded up. But this is New Zealand we are talking about, where central government tends not to be too keen on such schemes. 

Anyone who's been to NZ will know there is plenty of the former!

I've been to NZ and travelled by train from Auckland to Palmerston North - sandwiches and hot drinks complimentary!

NZ is a big country, twice the area of England with 1/10 of the population, so it's not ideal for passenger railways, let alone electrification. It's geologically young and so is volcanic, hilly and earthquake prone. Modern buildings are generally proof against seismic shock - if they're damaged the owner is prosecuted! Straight built roads can develop kinks where serious earth movement takes place.

Its railways are typical colonial - freight primarily, 42" gauge. The main line only supports one passenger train per day, for tourists, between Auckland (Strand) and Wellington but there are suburban systems at each end, Auckland having a four route 25kV system from 2013. This has been a great success boosting traffic through the resited central terminal (Britomart) by 600%, reaching capacity a decade before even the most optimistic original projections forecast. Wellington soldiers on with 1500Vdc overhead.

It seems that the proposal is to mothball the central 25kV system that covers 60% of the spine route, over the hump, passing Mount Ruapehu - even grander than the Settle - Carlisle scenery!

It's a pity swopping traction is such a business but the lesson is not to build white elephants. NZ has another one at the monumental Auckland Railway Station (1930), now student flats! The terminal has sensibly been returned to where it was originally, in the city centre, behind the reused and equally monumental Raj style GPO. Interestingly, the diesel hauled passenger service had to be banished to start from Strand (1 platform!) because of diesel emissions.

Perhaps Hitachi could build the Kiwis a Bi-mode freight locomotive.

Anchor butter lover,

OTC

My only experience of travelling on the railways in NZ was on the TransAlpine from Christchurch to Greymouth (and back)...it is one of the great railway journeys.

As has been said, because of the small population (approx. 4.5m, in a Country roughly the size of the UK), long-distance passenger trains a few-and-far-between, and mostly for tourists.

There is quite a lot of freight though - mainly containers, logs and coal - you see a lot of (long, multi-loco'd) coal trains if you do the TransAlpine, as it shares the line with them as they move it from the mines on the west coast of South Island to Christchurch, where it's mainly exported by ship to China.

The main line on the east coast of South Island was severely damaged in many places by the recent earthquake.

For those of you who are interested, long distance electric haulage and the EF class in New Zealand appear to have been issued a reprieve - https://www.railwaygazette.com/news/traction-rolling-stock/single-view/view/kiwirail-electric-haulage-reprieved.html (https://www.railwaygazette.com/news/traction-rolling-stock/single-view/view/kiwirail-electric-haulage-reprieved.html)

The new Government seems very rail friendly, supporting the extension of electrification (ditching the idea of battery electric EMUs), the addition of a third track to the main line and a new light rail system in Auckland (with the construction of the CRL underground link ongoing), plus I think they are paying for some work in Wellington too. 

The extension of electrification will narrow the unelectrified gap between the two 25kV systems to about 80km, which perhaps makes it's plugging it a more realistic prospect, particularly as it would facilitate the introduction of medium distance passenger services into the central Britomart station.

By all accounts a significant proportion of the current rail freight from Auckland goes to the Port of Tauranga, which is something like 100km east of Hamilton and the start of the central 25kV system, so again, it's not impossible that central government might support its electrification, if only to ease urban pollution.