The other day I posted some videos from the last transport committee that covered off updates that were given by AT and Kiwirail on what is happening with Electrification and the EMU’s. After doing so I went to see if the presentation itself had been put onto the councils website as a week ago when I looked it hadn’t been but this time it was there and gives some more insight to what is happening. With the video of the first part not working we unfortunately don’t know exactly what was said for the presentation but we can get an idea from. Here are a few interesting bits I came across.
There are two parts to this post, the EMU’s and the depot that will service them.
The EMU’s
AT have given an indicative timeline of when they expect things to happen, as you can see it the first trains will arrive around mid 2013 and it will take about 3 years to get them all delivered. That may sound like a long time but if we break it down it actually works out at about one 3 car train every 20 days.
It will take till October next year before the final design is complete which is one year after the contract was signed and there is also a separate timeline for the design phase. AT indicates that they will be involving a cross section of users which I assume is to help flesh out the design.
There is also a new image of EMU’s however there is some debate as to whether this is a new design or perhaps an earlier one from the tender process.
The EMU Depot
For those that don’t know, it is going in to the old Wiri quarry next to the rail line between Wiri Station Rd and SH20 and it will be on the Western side of the tracks. AT says this about the depot
Building
The building is where most of the maintenance activities will take place for the EMUs and where staff will be accommodated. There are 7 maintenance berths in the building, some of them electrified and some not. Overhead gantries are provided to lift heavy equipment on and off the EMUs and there are jacking systems to lift the body of the train up to remove the bogeys. There is a wheel lathe and underfloor pits to enable easy access to the EMUs. Offices, workshop, staff amenities and the Depot control centre are all located within the building.
Stabling
There is space to stable 28 EMUs outside the Depot building. There is also an automatic train wash and covered platforms to facilitate cleaning of the inside of the vehicles. All of the stabling berths are electrified.
And here are some images of what it will look like.
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It would be good to see some more detail on the internal layout of the EMUs. The mixture of different seat arrangements could be quite important.
As AT will be doing some user group engagement, hopefully we can be involved in that 🙂
That would be nice Josh to see the internal layout. But I suppose we will have to wait and see for a little while longer – especially as a working party is still working on concepts for the internal design (and the politics that go with it)
One thing that caught my attention was the number of trains being able to be stabled at Wiri – 28 doesn’t quite seem enough
Some rough numbers: 57 EMU’s (plus more over time). 28 at Wiri, up to 6 at Papakura (if there are no ADL’s parked there), 4 at Henderson (if there are no ADL’s parked there)and two at Britomart over night. Unless my maths sucks that is around 40 EMU’s parked around the place and 10-17 ( depending if all 7 berths inside the buildings are used or not) needing a spot.
I might be missing something here – but a question to be asked though 🙂
Henderson, assuming all stabling tracks are eventually electrified, could hold 18 EMU’s, or 16-17 if one or two ADL’s are there. Then there will be the new stabling yard at the Strand (another 6-9 sets), and I’m sure they will overnight some EMU’s inside Britomart. There would also be several in the maintenance depot at any one time (additional to the 28 outside).
Hi hope more of an effort is somehow made to stop these being graffitied- it seems such a waste of the new(ish) SA/SD sets that the exteriorsare already so run-down looking