Auckland railway electrification
[7] The rationale for this became clear in late April 2018 when electrification between Papakura and Pukekohe was announced as part of the $28 billion Auckland Transport Alignment Project.
[17] The fleet comprised diesel multiple units (DMUs) bought second-hand from Perth, Australia, and rebuilt British Rail Mark II carriages in push/pull configuration with DC and DFT locomotives; the Auckland Regional Transport Authority established that electric trains would be cheaper to run long term.
Around the world, cities with high-frequency metropolitan passenger rail services use electric trains, partly because of their quieter operation, faster travel between stations and greater environmental benefits.
[13] After electrification a small number of diesel trains were retained to provide shuttle services between Papakura and Pukekohe.
[20] In July 2017, Auckland Council's Finance & Performance Committee approved in principle an order from CAF of 17 EMUs equipped with batteries (BEMU) that would extend electric unit services to Pukekohe.
[7] The rationale for this became clear in late April 2018 when electrification between Papakura and Pukekohe was announced as part of the $28 billion Auckland Transport Alignment Project.
The old signalling system used track circuits with insulated rail joints; these had to be installed initially for the duplication of the Western Line.
[29] Significant earthworks to prepare the site commenced in January 2011 and in May 2012 a NZ$40 million contract to construct the facility was awarded to Downer New Zealand Limited.
The Auckland Regional Council envisaged that a regional fuel tax of five cents per litre would be required to pay for the trains, the upgrade of other rolling stock, above-track infrastructure development including stations and maintenance facilities, ferry terminal upgrades and other transport infrastructure including integrated smartcard ticketing, and the council was to fund the Auckland Regional Transport Authority to buy electric trains and to operate services, and to provide stabling and maintenance facilities.
This move was heavily criticised for leaving the electrification in doubt for a time, for delaying parts of the project, such as train tendering,[34] and for putting control of Auckland public transport into Wellington's hands.
In late 2009, the government confirmed that NZ$500 million in loans would be extended to KiwiRail to enable it to proceed with tendering for the rolling stock, a process that the cancellation of the fuel tax had interrupted by at least half a year.
[28] The section of the Southern Line between Pukekohe and Papakura, was operated as a shuttle service using ADL/ADC class diesel multiple units until 2022.
The Draft future urban land supply strategy states that electrification of the network would be extended southwards to Pukekohe once the special housing area at Paerata is opened up in the "second decade" of the plan, that is by 2030.
[37] A petition for the electrification to be undertaken sooner was started by a local resident of Pukekohe,[38] and the matter was discussed by both main parties during campaigning for the 2017 general election.
In preparation for future electrification, KiwiRail has been consulting with Transpower about a third power supply for its network from the Drury 220 kV switching station.
[42][43] There was criticism that KiwiRail was negotiating with two overseas-owned companies (McConnell Dowell, South Africa and John Holland, China) to carry out the contract, which is expected to provide over 200 jobs.
[51] During the 2013-2014 shut-down, the complex job of wiring Quay Park Junction, The Strand stabling facility and Britomart was completed.
