Saying farewell to Auckland's diesel trains (and a heritage rail excursion to Mission Bush)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ก.ย. 2024
- In a couple of weeks, the Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) trains that have been operating in Auckland since 1993 will be retired. Auckland Transport (AT) and Glenbrook Vintage Railway (GVR) gave them a farewell tribute. I went along & recorded it for my friends who couldn’t make it.
The ADL/ADC class DMUs were built in the early 1980s for Perth (Australia). They were refurbished in 2002. Since 2015 they've been running the Papakura-Pukekohe shuttle service. They are being retired in August 2022 to allow line electrification between Papakura and Pukekohe to proceed full-time. The line will reopen in 2024 with Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) trains running.
The day involved catching an AT EMU to Papakura to join the celebration, then a ride on a DMU to Pukekohe, where we joined the GVR on their heritage locomotive and carriages for a family excursion to Mission Bush where the New Zealand Steel mill is located (Glenbrook).
Music from the TH-cam Music Library
Video production by Scott Pilkington @spil030
** nerd stats **
DMU trains: ADL/ADC class
Dimensions: 24.4 m long, 2.74 m wide, 3.84 m high
Top speed: 90 km/h
Weight: 35.75-42.97 tonnes (each)
Passengers: 132 (each)
EMU trains: AM class
Dimensions: 71.8 m long, 2.76 m wide, 3.99 m high
Top speed: 110 km/h
Weight: 132 tonnes (3-car train)
Passengers: 373 (3-car train)
DBR 1254
Built 1964-1965, rebuilt 1980-1982, refurbished 2019
Length: 14 m
Top speed: up to 100 km/h, but licenced for 80 km/h
Weight: 68 tonnes
Carriages: A1926, A1948 & A1991
Built 1939-1940
Length: 56 ft
Weight: 28 tonnes
Passengers: ~52 (each)
Carriages: AA1233, AA1494 & AA1134
Built 1909-1924
Length: 50 ft
Weight: 28 tonnes
Passengers: ~50
Ah! The Kiwi version of Geoff Marshall! Love your vids mate
Wow! That's a huge compliment, thanks! I am hoping at some point to do an All The Stations Aotearoa a la Geoff, Every Disused Station a la Paul & Rebecca Whitewick, and Every Tram Stop a la Jen on the Move
AT must needs to conduct a feasibility study to run a diesel/hybrid service between Waiuku and the proposed drury station... waiuku is developing, in future it'll be a necessity for waiuku residents to have a rail connectivity to the city centre
It's a good idea and I wondered about it myself. In the long run, I understand GVR is looking to extend their line further into Waiuku to terminate next to the boat landing in the 'heritage quarter'.
A couple of problems of taking regular passenger service to Waiuku though: from Glenbrook to Waiuku isn't mainline anymore. I don't know how much work (if any) would be needed to change that. The line from Paerātā westwards is single tracked and takes 5x daily big freight trains. Running passenger services would need to work around that since that's what's kept the line alive until now. It could be that GVR could run a shuttle service to help with their own running from Waiuku to Paerātā (there's going to be a new station there). I'm just a history buff though, so most of this knowledge has only been picked up by osmosis, I'm no expert! I think, given the costs, that they'd probably instead just run a bus from Pukekohe. When I was at highschool in Papakura there used to be a school bus to Waiuku, so they might run a commuter bus as well (I'd wager most people would refer to drive though).
@@spil030 Surely a train service to Waiuku would also include passing loops (as a matter of course)…
How about sending them out west to Kumeu/Huapai with their bulging populations. Already have the platforms from previous years of diesel/passenger service.
This is fantastic work my good Sir! Keep it up!
Thanks, will do!
Great video. 👍 I’m very keen to visit NZ to travel on some of your trains. 😍
Hopefully they're still here when you get to visit! We're always in danger of them being entirely removed by car-focussed politicians.
@@spil030 We have similarly car-obsessed politicians in Australia. 😢
Sad to see the ADL's being retired out of the Auckland System... rode them quite a few times in Perth before the A Series came long... glad I got to ride them again in 2015 and 2019... almost full circle in a way as the A Series are due to start thier retirement in the next couple of years.
Do you have any idea whom Auckland Transport will be selling these to? Will it be to Mozambique again? Or will it be to another regional council within NZ? Or to the scrap dealers?
A decade ago with Auckland's railway electrification approaching; I wondered if these units could also be used to bring suburban rail back to another NZ city.
Christchurch was the obvious candidate with its town centre (then) recently flattened by an earthquake, thus an opportunity to build a new railway terminus closer to the town centre than the old Moorhouse avenue site. But that was not to be; Christchurch let that one pass them by. But I think they still could've been used in Tauranga & western BOP, Dunedin or Waikato/Hamilton.
But sadly none of that happened. With the units now approaching 40 years old; I expect they're too worn-out & had it to be used again for regular suburban services in NZ. And second hand DMU's with enough years left in them and in cape gauge aren't exactly anything that becomes available very often.
P.S. Are they really renaming Britomart? Seems pretty pointless if they are…
Sadly, I don't know what's happening with the sale. I heard the original deal has fallen over, but that the units will be held at Glenbrook while the new sale is brokered. That's all I've heard.
I understand that the CRL stations (including Britomart) have been renamed for their most obvious local landmark. So Britomart will become Waitematā (it's by the harbour) and Mt Eden will become Maungawhau (it's by the mountain), and the intermediate stations will be Te Wai Horotiu (it's where the various sources of the stream meet and head down Q St) and Karanga a Hape (the correct spelling of the route the street was named after).
@@spil030 I predict: These new station names will not stick.
On topic: If the original deal has fallen over and will be re-brokered: I get the funny feeling they’re heading to Africa.
@@danieleyre8913 only time will tell!
At least it won't be farewell forever. The way I see it, it's more like a farewell "for now". Fortunately, thanks to the Retro Decade Revival Project, these DMU trains will be brought back into the public mainstream as well as reverted back to their original interior and exterior designs from the 1990s.
Honestly, pukekohe train station is going to be closed for 3 years!
Thankyou for this great, I really enjoyed and it was very well done.
im toby
when I was young I used to go on these DMU trains and they are my favourite because they go very fast. I love them and I want them to keep going forever.
wouldn't say very fast 😂
@@kiwikewi feel like a a proper train
Awesome Te reo pronunciation, and great video overall 💚✌🏽
Kia ora Ari, thanks! I'm working on my pronunciation (as well as my video skills) so I appreciate the feedback! 💕