Capital Connection Passenger Service Hauled by Pure EMD Power

‪@GreatJourneysofNZ‬ Capital Connection is a inter-regional service that runs a single weekday return journey between Palmerston North and Wellington.
The passenger service uses refurbished SR carriages and is hauled by a single ‪@KiwiRailofficial‬ DFB locomotive.
The SR carriages were used on the Auckland suburban before being retired, and stored at Taumarunui until a new use could be found. The unique look of the SRG carriages with their operators cabin allows the train to be utilised in a push/pull configuration. Unfortunately due to unprotected railway crossings between Palmerston North & Wellington, this cabin is only utilised when piloting the train backwards.
In January 2020 the "New Zealand Upgrade Program" was announced by the Labour Government, and as part of the $211 millions dollars allocated towards projects in the Greater Wellington region, it was decided to upgrade the carriages used on the Capital Connection service. Twelve SR carriages including two generator carriages & a cafe carriage were refurbished at Hutt workshops, and they were released into service 1 August 2023.

[@bnrailfannz8262]

Concrete sleepers P 9 & 8 and? 😮 A shame the people who design these vehicles dont really look hard at the passengers needs. Getting away from that.... 💕 the sound and look of these locos. They were a favorite loco to operate when I worked ( drove) for the Railways

[@TravellingRailSpotter]

There is alot of work going on at Wellington Station to improve the signaling so they can increase the number of trains that can run per hour. Currently there is a bit of a bottle neck at times.

[@bnrailfannz8262]

@@TravellingRailSpotter Thanks for the info

[@johannserfontein8624]

Comfort? Have you tried using a laptop at a table when the person opposite uses one too? Oh, thats right. You cant, because it doesnt fit two laptops like the old train tables. And the 2 sets of doors opening straight into the carriage? Handy for the London underground, not so handy for the arctic Horowhenua wastelands in winter. Please swap it out with metlink train to Masterton.

[@TravellingRailSpotter]

Nope haven't tried a laptop but I'm sure there are workarounds. Doors aren't too much of an issue as they aren't open for long. Worthy points, but still a superior ride compared to the older S carriages.