Down at the Station

摘要

On 30 October the Government announced that it was making $35 million available to KiwiRail to refurbish 15 EF class electric locomotives. The work will be done at the Hutt Workshops and will involve both electronic control system and mechanical upgrades, particularly bogies. The work will be carried out over the next two to three years. This announcement reverses KiwiRail's previous decision to scrap the North Island Main Trunk electrification. The Government's announcement also stated that both the Government and KiwiRail are considering the possibility of further electrification and are also exploring the use of other fuel sources.KiwiRail's DL fleet was increased by 15 to 63 on 11 October when the latest batch of Chinese built locomotives arrived at Mount Maunganui. After initial checking the locomotives were hauled in one train to Hamilton for commissioning.The train was hauled by DL9233 and DL9193 and the numbers of the new locomotives are 9521,9538,9544,9550,9567,9573, 9596, 9607, 9613, 9636, 9642, 9659, 9665, 9671 and 9688. The first of the class arrived in New Zealand in 2010.