A Jaunt to Wellington

[@Phil-oj5nr]

I thought if there were some good coaches at Taumarunui, they could be rebuilt for a trial provincial service, about six maybe. Then I saw the video the guy made of the interiors and they were in a bad state alright. However, if KiwiRail had any gumption, they could do just that if suitable coaches could be cleaned up. However they are so risk-adverse I doubt they would even contemplate it. The missed opportunity was when the coaches were still in Auckland after the electrification was finished, then, I think, something could have been tried.

[@Kiwitrailchannel]

They should re purpose the SA sets into 3 car suburban electric trains

[@Destroyed007]

Uneconomical, and the imported carriages are half a century old

[@danieleyre8913]

Erm… …how on earth do you imagine they would do that? They’re going to be retired in the next 5 years and replaced with multiple units or railcars anyway.

[@Kiwitrailchannel]

@danieleyre8913 Well, they could just butt out the generator and diesel equipment and install new electric equipment. Should be cheaper than buying new trains

[@danieleyre8913]

@@Kiwitrailchannel Ah erm no. These are just carriages that are towed by a locomotive. They’re not self-powered multiple units. And in any case; even if they were self-powered, while converting diesel stock to electric stock has been done with some classes of trains overseas, it’s not very common because it is usually very complicated. The carriage’s weight distribution and centre of gravity can’t change much. It’s usually just not worth it, better to buy electric stock and sell or repurpose the diesel stock.

[@Kiwitrailchannel]

@@danieleyre8913 fair enough, could use the carriages for spare bits. They should use the horns on Auckland's electric trains. Their horns sound annoying and awful