Hillside
Passenger Carriages
Auckland passenger train
(Click to enlarge)
The latest project, developed and grown since April 2004 has been building passenger carriages for the Auckland Regional Transport Authority. This started as a couple of train sets and is now up to forty with the prospect of growing the project further, as there had been a 33% increase in regional transport authority passengers. This growth has been quite phenomenal and has increased with the rise in petrol prices in mid 2006. Based on this success the demand for rolling stock should be there for a few more years.
These passenger carriages were designed to fit the needs of a commuter system with frequent stops. They have quarter point entry doors allowing for faster passenger entry and exit rather than the traditional two doorways. The push-pull operation is an example of new technology in New Zealand - here the locomotive is at one end with the driver's cab at the other. This permits the loco to push the train in reverse while the driver is operating it at the other end.
Hillside is also able to modify the traditional British rail carriages used here – they can be rebuilt or just converted to quarter point entry for busy stations. They are presently putting forward a proposal for providing rebuilt passenger trains into Auckland and Wellington by completely rebuilding vehicles from the United Kingdom – including purpose built ventilation systems and train management systems.
Hillside is presently working on a contract from the Greater Wellington Regional Council for the Wairarapa Connection. This is very similar to the Capital Connection which runs at the moment but the placement of doors will differ; due to the distance covered and reduced number of stops there is no need for fast exits and doors will remain at the end of the carriage. These carriages will have more comfortable seating, luggage racks and toilets.
A proposal is being put forward for multiple units for Wellington and Auckland to purchase. This includes diesel and electric options and the whole traction system proposals that would go with it. This is major future specifying – not just buying a train out of a catalogue.
The Wellington City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council have recently endorsed plans to acquire twelve new electric trains for the Johnsonville line.
