Made-in-India battery-electric trains will run on New Zealand’s tracks within three years.
French major Alstom will manufacture the trains at its Savli manufacturing facility in Gujarat. It will be New Zealand’s first battery-electric trains to replace the current diesel locomotive-hauled trains due for retirement in 2028 and 2029.
There will be 16 trains of five cars each, with the total order of around 90 cars, Champak Panda, Managing Director, Rolling Stock and Components, Alstom India, said at the Coimbatore facility on Monday.
Three-plant production
Interestingly, Panda said, the company will use three of its plants to manufacture the trains in India. The traction will be manufactured at Coimbatore; the battery at Maneja in Gujarat , and the assembly will happen in Savli, he added.
The company also has a plant at Sri City near Chennai to manufacture train sets.
‘Tuhono’ launch
Named ‘Tuhono’, meaning “to connect” or “to unite,” the trains will be the greenest in New Zealand, bringing Alstom’s zero direct emissions rail technology to the Southern Hemisphere for the first time. This contract builds on previous orders, including 11 BEMU trains for VMS in Germany and 31 for Irish Rail in Ireland, says a release.
On Monday, Alstom was awarded a €538M contract to deliver 18 Adessia Stream B battery-electric multiple unit trains and 35 years of maintenance by the Greater Wellington Regional Council. The funding will be from the New Zealand Government, through the Ministry of Transport (New Zealand) – Te Manatū Waka NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi, Greater Wellington and Horizons Regional Council, a release said.
Cultural identity
The design will celebrate Te ao Māori and the unique cultural identity of Aotearoa New Zealand, while a new maintenance facility in Masterton in the Greater Wellington region will ensure long-term fleet reliability and performance, the release said.
These will be the first BEMU commuter trains operating in New Zealand. The trains will enable emission-free operations on non-electrified segments of the Wellington rail network, on the Wairarapa and Manawatu lines.
Alstom Adessia trains
Alstom’s success in battery-electric multiple unit technology continues to gain momentum, with 60 trains sold for commuter and regional networks since 2020. The latest contract from New Zealand builds on previous orders, including 11 BEMU trains for VMS in Germany and 31 for Irish Rail in Ireland.
