Electric train depot at Wiri
A maintenance depot for the new electric trains is being developed at Wiri, south of Auckland. The building construction is progressing rapidly and tracks have been laid from the suburban rail network to the new depot. A construction train has made the first visit to the site.
Latest news
February 2013
Watch the progress of the Wiri Depot construction in this timelapse video.
January 2013
Construction of the Electric Train depot made steady progress over summer. See pictures of the site and buildings.
October 2012
Depot update (PDF 1.7mb)
Key Facts
A site at the old Winstone Quarry in Wiri is being developed to become the maintenance depot for the new electric trains for Auckland. The picture below is an artist's impression of the facility.
Earthworks and construction are underway and completion of the depot is expected in mid 2013.
The depot building comprises three distinct areas.
The main maintenance hall will be where the servicing of the trains takes place.
The ground floor will house offices for the train supplier, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF).
The first floor will house the Depot Control Office, the train operator Veolia and staff amenities.
The 7650 sq m building will have seven maintenance berths and will include, under floor lifts, overhead gantries and jacking systems to lift the body of the train up.
The picture to the right shows the huge doorways being constructed at the southern end of the maintenance facility at the Wiri site.
Location
The site is located next to the South-Western Expressway in Wiri and is bordered by Roscommon and Wiri Station Roads. The old Winstones Quarry is a large enough site to house all the facilities required. Its proximity to the Main Trunk Northern Line makes it well suited for access purposes.
The Wiri Depot is where all the maintenance on the electric trains will be carried out and there is stabling capacity for up to 28 electric trains. There will be additional facilities for smaller numbers of the trains at Henderson, Parnell and Papakura.
Timeline
The earthworks to prepare the site started in January 2011. This involved filling an area approximately 580m long, 85m wide and 6-11 metres deep in places so that there was a flat site for construction. The project should be completed during 2013.
What we do at the depot
The building is where most of the maintenance activities will take place for the electric trains and where staff will be accommodated.
There are seven maintenance berths in the building, some of them electrified and some not.
Overhead gantries are provided to lift heavy equipment on and off the trains, and there are jacking systems to lift the body of the train up to remove the bogies (wheel chassis).
There is a wheel lathe and underfloor pits to enable easy access to the electric trains.
The picture to the right shows the foundation for one of six train jacks. These are the first permanent train jacks in NZ used to lift the trains for maintenance. Two jacks are needed per car - six for a three-car trainset). Until now only portable jacks have been used.
There is space to stable 28 electric trains outside the depot building. |
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There is also an automatic train wash and covered platforms to facilitate cleaning of the inside of the vehicles.
More information
Contact us if you have further enquiries about this project