New Zealand railways, Kiwirail, ditch electric for diesel

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KiwiRail to abandon electric freight operations
Dec 21, 2016 by Richard Worrall
https://www.railjournal.com/regions/australia-nz/kiwirail-to-abandon-e lectric-freight-operations/

KIWIRAIL has announced plans to abandon electric haulage of freight trains on the Hamilton – Palmerston North section of the North Island Main Trunk line, which was electrified in the early 1980s.

KiwiRail will withdraw its fleet of 16 class 30 electric locomotives over the next two years and replace them with up to 12 additional Chinese-built DL class diesel locomotives.

KiwiRail CEO Mr Peter Reidy says the cost of replacing or upgrading the electric locomotives, which are becoming increasingly unreliable, is deemed uneconomic. Reidy added that having to switch between diesel and electric locomotives to complete journeys between Auckland and Wellington added additional costs and was operationally inefficient, creating a “railway within a railway.”

Reidy says customers will benefit from more reliable services while KiwiRail will be able to cut operating costs. “The doubling up of service facilities, inventory, training and maintenance required with two separate systems adds to the inefficiencies and unreliability.”
The 25kV ac catenary will remain in place to allow for the possible reinstatement of electric locomotives in the future.

The cost of completing electrification of the North Island Main Trunk line is estimated at $NZ 1bn which KiwiRail says it cannot afford and the government says it is not willing to fund. The opposition Labour and Green political parties have criticised the move as a backward step, arguing that switching to diesel traction will increase greenhouse gas emissions, and are calling on the government to complete electrification.

[Whitehall_Bin_Men]

KiwiRail proposes to replace electrics with diesels
16 Apr, 2015 12:30 AM 2 minutes to read
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/kiwirail-proposes-to-replace-electrics-w ith-diesels/BJNJBXSRCWVHB3ZB43LPN4QCPI/

APN / NZ HERALD
By Gary Farrow

State-owned enterprise KiwiRail has proposed the replacement of its electric locomotives with more diesel-powered engines as a measure to balance the books, even though such a decision would involve rail operations generating much more carbon emissions.

The North Island Main Trunk railway line is currently electrified between Te Rapa in Hamilton and Palmerston North. That allows electric trains to operate on the long, mountainous section of track. They are able to perform notably more efficiently and sustainably than diesel-hauled trains.

However, KiwiRail's cost-cutting suggestion entails the replacement of the electric locomotives with a dozen additional diesel engines sourced from China. The current electric fleet is in need of refurbishment, and the company is skeptical that tending to this would be financially viable.

The electrification of the Main Trunk was actually initiated by Robert Muldoon's National government, and completed in 1987. It was one of the government's Think Big projects at the time, where big infrastructure operations were used as a means of rejuvenating the economy. Despite this, less than 30 years later, KiwiRail is considering effectively reversing the project, lured by the idea of short-term financial gain.

The Green Party is critical of this suggestion, and is asking the current National government to prevent KiwiRail's proposal from being enacted, in the name of both eco-efficiency and jobs.

"The Government must ensure the massive investment in rail electrification is protected and not sacrificed for a short-sighted cost-saving operation. Electrified rail is future-proofed infrastructure that needs a long-term investment horizon to manage," says Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter.

"The Government needs to rule out new diesel on our Main Truck Line and properly fund KiwiRail given the strategic role it will play in our transport network as our economy moves towards a smart, low-carbon future."