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Rail Upgrade Work Includes a ‘Brain Change"
Media Information
03 September 2009
This Weekend’s Wellington Rail Upgrade Work Includes a ‘Brain Change’ –
Bus Replacements on Part of the Network
To accommodate more upgrade work on Wellington’s rail system this weekend, 5th and 6th September, Tranz Metro are advising train passengers that bus replacements will be operating on part of the network.
Throughout the weekend, upgrade work will continue just north of Wellington Railway Station. The expansion of the ‘station throat’ will increase capacity and remove a bottleneck from the rail system when complete next year.
The work this weekend includes a ‘brain change’ at Wellington, moving to a new computerised control system to improve operations and reliability. The switch has been described as a fifty year leap forward in technology.
Tranz Metro will be laying on replacement bus services for Upper Hutt line passengers between Wellington and Waterloo. On the Paraparaumu line, buses will operate between Wellington and Tawa. Wairarapa services will be replaced by buses between Wellington and Upper Hutt. Due to ongoing upgrade work, all Johnsonville line services will be replaced by buses.
Other stations will have train services as normal and all Tranz Metro train services will be back to normal operation for Monday morning.
However over the weekend the Overlander will operate as normal, leaving from Wellington for Auckland at 7.30am each day with the southbound service arriving at 7.30pm.
More information is available at www.tranzmetro.co.nz or via Metlink on 0800 801 700.
The work is part of the Wellington Region Rail Programme, a series of improvements to the Wellington railway system that will give commuters more reliable passenger services. This is a joint initiative between the Greater Wellington Regional Council and KiwiRail (ONTRACK and Tranz Metro).
The Wellington Region Rail Programme includes:
A fleet of new electric trains – the Matangi
trains
Extension of electrification and double tracked
lines to take commuter services to Waikanae;
Installation
of power supply equipment and railway signalling;
Adding
another line into Wellington Railway Station to reduce
delays;
Making the Johnsonville Line tunnels larger;
and
Improving a number of platform and station
facilities.
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