In service May 1982 – 27 May 2016 Entered service May 1982 – 1983 | Constructed 1979 – 1982 Number built 44 | |
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Manufacturer Refurbishment Tranz Rail 1996 – 2002 (entire fleet) andMetlink/Tranz Metro 2010 (one unit) | ||
The New Zealand EM/ET class (also known as Ganz-Mavag) electric multiple units were used on suburban services in Wellington, New Zealand from 1982 to 2016. They were owned initially by the New Zealand Railways Corporation and finally by the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) and operated by Tranz Metro, part of national railway operator KiwiRail.
Contents
The 44 two-car units of an EM motor car and an ET trailer car were introduced between 1982 and 1983 on the 1500 V DC electrified Kapiti, Hutt Valley and Melling lines. After the introduction of the "Matangi" FP/FT class EMUs in 2011–12, they were largely been relegated to peak services. In 2012, the GWRC decided to order a second batch of Matangi units to replace the Ganz-Mavag units, and the last units were withdrawn from revenue service on 27 May 2016 after 34 years in service.
The name "Ganz-Mavag" comes from the units' manufacturer, Ganz-Mavag of Hungary. It was widely used by the GWRC and in the media to distinguish them from other electric multiple units used on the Wellington suburban lines; they were also referred to as Hungarian units.
Introduction
The cost was NZ$33 million, then the single largest order of rolling stock in New Zealand Railways Department's history. This cost was partially offset by a barter agreement involving the Hungarian Government buying New Zealand dairy products, chiefly butter.
Their introduction spelled the end of the carriage trains hauled by the EW electric locomotives, though electric-hauled carriage trains were temporary reintroduced behind the EO locomotives between 2008-2011, and Wairarapa Line services are diesel-hauled. A number of the older English Electric DM/D units were retained, mainly for use on the Melling and Johnsonville Lines.
The introduction of the units also coincided with the project to extend the electrification on the Kapiti Coast from Paekakariki to Paraparaumu.
Service
The EM class have served as the primary rail commuter vehicle since their introduction in 1982, running in anything from a single unit (2-cars) to an 8-car unit depending on the service being operated. They have also seen service beyond the electrification, being used behind diesel locomotives as carriages to carry people to the annual Toast Martinborough wine festival in the Wairarapa.
The introduction of the new Matangi units from 2010 has seen a reduction in the number of services being operated by the class, with most off-peak services handed over to the Matangis in June 2012. The EMs were able to run in an 8-car formation, something the Matangis were limited in doing owing to the amount of current that they drew from the overhead system; hence the EM class were used on heavily patronised peak services, particularly on the Kapiti Line.
Johnsonville Line
The class were not operated on the Johnsonville Line as they were out-of-gauge and had insufficient braking capacity. While tunnel and platform clearances were improved in 2009, it was not envisaged that the units would be used on the line; due to their limited braking power on the steep grades.
Two units have visited Johnsonville on test trains; on Sunday 14 June 1992 EM 1004 and its trailer ET 3004 was towed behind shunter DSC 2285 to measure clearances at platforms and tunnels. On Sunday 18 April 2010 EM 1056 plus trailer ET 3056 ran under its own power on a trial to check clearances for the Matangi units.
Incidents and accidents
Three units were involved in a collision north of Plimmerton on 30 September 2010. The northbound train (consisting of EM 1010, ET 3010, EM 1154 and ET 3154) derailed after hitting a slip caused by heavy rain and fouled the southbound line. Less than a minute later it was struck by southbound unit EM 1223 and ET 3223, which did not derail, but the collision caused extensive damage to both cabs. Sixty passengers and crew were on the two trains. Two people were hospitalised. The drivers of the trains were father and son.
The damaged units were initially towed back to the EMU depot north of Wellington station, where later the two undamaged halves - EM 1010 and ET 3223 (renumbered to ET 3010) were marshalled together as a unit. The damaged cars, EM 1223 and the original ET 3010, were towed to storage at the Hutt Workshops and used as parts sources.
On 20 May 2013, ET 3309 derailed crossing Wellington Distant Junction, puncturing a hole in the floor. It was the rear car in a two-unit consist operating the 07:43 Porirua to Wellington service, subsequently stranding thousands of morning peak commuters across the network as it blocked both the Kapiti and Hutt Valley lines. All units were temporarily withdrawn after the derailment for urgent safety inspections, but most were back in service for morning peak the next day. Preliminary investigations suggest when one of the unit's spring park brake assemblies was replaced in March 2013, two split pins were not inserted into the bolts securing the assembly to the undercarriage, allowing the assembly to come loose over time and ultimately caused the derailment. Two air reservoir tanks came loose in the accident and pushed the air compressor behind them upwards through the floor, creating the hole.
Other incidents involving EM units include:
Refurbishment
In 1995 a major refurbishment program of the class began, with the EMUs repainted in the then standard Tranz Rail Cato light blue and yellow livery with new seats and brighter interiors. This refurbishment program was completed by 2002.
Other minor upgrades were made in the mid-2000s, replacing the original diamond pantographs with single-arm ones and adding ditch lights.
In 2008 a proposed refurbishment was deferred until the new Matangi units were available. The projected expenditure was $23.3 million in 2008 - 2009. The prototype refurbished unit was completed at the end of 2010.
EM 1373 and ET 3373 were fully refurbished to ascertain unit costs and gauge public opinion, including repainting into the new Metlink livery. A decision to refurbish others in the fleet was made on 10 March 2011 as part of an $88 million rail upgrade package, instead of purchasing more Matangi. However, in August 2012 GWRC announced its preference for ordering 35 more Matangi units instead of refurbishing the remaining units.
Withdrawals
The introduction of the Matangi units allowed for the withdrawal of several Ganz units, with those in the best mechanical condition retained for running peak services only. Those units that were withdrawn were stored initially at Thorndon, before most were relocated to the Hutt Workshops. GWRC called for expressions of interest in the disposal of these units.
The Ganz Mavag fleet operated their last revenue services on 27 May 2016, operating the 14:17 Wellington to Melling service and the return 14:39 Melling to Wellington service. This paralleled the last revenue service by the DM/D "English Electric" units four years earlier.
In June 2013 GWRC announced that it had come to terms for both the purchase of an additional 35 Matangi units and the sale of 42 of the Ganz units to a South African buyer, with one unit to be retained in New Zealand for preservation.
Seventeen units were shipped to South Africa in February 2014 aboard the MV Pangani where they will be converted into (unpowered) carriages for operation in Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The remaining units will be shipped once replaced by the second tranche of Matangi units from mid-2015 In November 2015, and in January and February 2016 several more units were withdrawn from service. A few more units have been shipped to South Africa in March 2016, but in March 2017 many are still held in the Wellington rail yards.
EM 1373/ET 3373 was donated to the Canterbury Railway Society.