"I would hate to think how much it would cost to build the rimutuka tunnel (even the Wellington tunnels) in todays money especially with the RMA and all the other red tape. I would doubt NZ could afford it these days, so it is good that it is being used."
Modern TBM(tunnell boring machines) technology has reduced the cost verses the old drill and blast method.
However like you said even if the tunnelling is cheaper it still requires money to pay for it.
"I would hate to think how much it would cost to build the rimutuka tunnel (even the Wellington tunnels) in todays money especially with the RMA and all the other red tape. I would doubt NZ could afford it these days, so it is good that it is being used."
Modern TBM(tunnell boring machines) technology has reduced the cost verses the old drill and blast method.
However like you said even if the tunnelling is cheaper it still requires money to pay for it.
I would still say that the rimutuka one would cost that best part of a billion today to build, it is a very long tunnel, possibly one of the longest in NZ? They would also probably need a safety tunnel alongside, or it would need to be wider to comply with newer safety standards.
They should try living next to the hutt line, then they will know how loud it can get with the freight trains going by at 3am. I think these residents could also be more worried about their house prices, as noise from trains they may think could affect their property values. Unfortunately you can't please everyone, and there are a lot of NIMBY's out there.
I lived at 2 main road, Waikanae in the late 80's, 1st house on the left after the bridge heading north. We had the two bridges for main trunk line and the SH1 bridge... got used to it after a few weeks.
Drew B: I'm not one to comment here, but I am going too because I'm sick of the cock up of the new trains. Teh delays which promised us for them to be in use over a year late and other cock ups.
The one that's relevant to this is that the first set of trains were on the wrong current type. They came in on AC when our lines are DC. Which meant convertors were installed (the high pitched noise they talk about) to convert the current back to the correct type.
Why is no one getting questioned over this ?
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I seem to recall major problems with the first lot of Matangi's that arrived. Power problems.
So is it possible that the original lot, have been deployed onto the Johnsonville line with noisy AC/DC Converters?
I have ridden the Matangi. And even witnessed them going passed and overall I think its quieter. Maybe the Johnsonville lot are different?
The AC / DC thing is total BS written by somebody who clearly has no idea what they're talking about.
Wellington trains use DC traction. Most railways in the world these days are AC, and the main trunk electrification from Palmerston North to Auckland is also AC. Most new trains globally are built for AC systems, but DC to AC converters are common place. These new trains were built from scratch in Korea with conversion equipment having to be designed especially for them and installed in Korea.
When the decision to order new trains was made serious consideration was made to switching all of the Wellington traction system over to AC. This would have meant installing DC to AC converters in all of the existing Ganz EMU's, and dealing with a logistical nightmare making such a change. The decision was made to stick with DC, which meant building a huge nunber of new substations for the traction system and upgrading existing cabling to support the much higher current drain from these new trains due as they now have great inventions from the 20th century such as air conditioning, which will also probably mean they have working heaters in Winter!
sbiddle: Wellington trains use DC traction. Most railways in the world these days are AC, and the main trunk electrification from Palmerston North to Auckland is also AC. Most new trains globally are built for AC systems, but DC to AC converters are common place. These new trains were built from scratch in Korea with conversion equipment having to be designed especially for them and installed in Korea.
Ah that would be Hamilton, not Auckland. There is no electrification north of Hamilton and even when the Auckland suburban electrification is complete, it will not extend south of the Bombay Hills.
sbiddle: Wellington trains use DC traction. Most railways in the world these days are AC, and the main trunk electrification from Palmerston North to Auckland is also AC. Most new trains globally are built for AC systems, but DC to AC converters are common place. These new trains were built from scratch in Korea with conversion equipment having to be designed especially for them and installed in Korea.
Ah that would be Hamilton, not Auckland. There is no electrification north of Hamilton and even when the Auckland suburban electrification is complete, it will not extend south of the Bombay Hills.
I could never understand why they didn't go to the Otahuhu yards. Maybe big oil and the trucking lobby groups put the hard word on the Gov at the time..
sbiddle: Wellington trains use DC traction. Most railways in the world these days are AC, and the main trunk electrification from Palmerston North to Auckland is also AC. Most new trains globally are built for AC systems, but DC to AC converters are common place. These new trains were built from scratch in Korea with conversion equipment having to be designed especially for them and installed in Korea.
Ah that would be Hamilton, not Auckland. There is no electrification north of Hamilton and even when the Auckland suburban electrification is complete, it will not extend south of the Bombay Hills.
I could never understand why they didn't go to the Otahuhu yards. Maybe big oil and the trucking lobby groups put the hard word on the Gov at the time..
I think running out of money combined with a change of government stopped that.
But yeah, makes a tonne of sense, and i think its less than 100km between the auckland metro AC network and the hamilton end of the NIMT AC network, so might even make sense in the future, once Auckland metro is fully electrified
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