Work is set to replace the overhead line system for Wellington’s Metlink commuter train network.
A $49 million contract was signed between KiwiRail, Fulton Hogan and rail infrastructure experts John Holland Australia at the Greater Wellington Regional Council offices.
KiwiRail and Greater Wellington Regional Council are working together on the project, which will involve replacing the existing timber poles with steel masts and renewing all the overhead wires.
The system that supplies power to the signals on the Hutt line will be replaced and put underground at the same time.
KiwiRail chief executive Peter Reidy says the work is a “big win for Wellington rail commuters”.
“It is vital for the resilience of the network.
“Our infrastructure teams work incredibly hard to keep things running smoothly but the current systems are reaching the end of their life.
“Without this replacement programme commuters would have faced increasing disruptions to the service as the wooden poles reach the end of their lives,” Reidy says.
The contract is part of government funded $98.4 million project which begun last year to replace the overhead power system between Wellington Station, Melling and Upper Hutt, as well as Ngaio and Johnsonville.
It will see 1274 existing poles and 38 kilometres of overhead wires replaced and is expected to be completed in 2021.
Greater Wellington sustainable transport committee chairperson Barbara Donaldson says the project is “a major step forward in improving our rail network infrastructure” with around five million journeys each year on the Hutt Line.
