Tranz Metro
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Tranz Metro (formerly Cityrail and before that Cityline) was a New Zealand public transport operator. Beginning as the
New Zealand Railways Corporation New Zealand Railways Corporation (NZRC) is the state-owned enterprise that owns the land beneath KiwiRail's Rail transport in New Zealand, railway network on behalf of the Crown. The Corporation has existed under a number of guises since 1982, wh ...
's Cityline division as a result of restructuring in the 1980s, in its final form Tranz Metro was the operator of Metlink's suburban trains owned by the
Greater Wellington Regional Council Wellington Regional Council, branded as Greater Wellington Regional Council, is the regional council overseeing the Wellington Region of New Zealand's lower North Island. It is responsible for public transport under the brand Metlink, environ ...
in the
Wellington Region Greater Wellington, also known as the Wellington Region (Māori: ''Te Upoko o te Ika''), is a non-unitary region of New Zealand that occupies the southernmost part of the North Island. The region covers an area of , and has a population of T ...
of New Zealand. Since 3 July 2016, Wellington's commuter rail services have been operated by
Transdev Wellington Transdev Wellington is the operator of Wellington's Metlink rail network in New Zealand. The entity is a partnership of Transdev Australasia and Hyundai Rotem, who were awarded the contract to operate and maintain the commuter rail system in De ...
.


History

Suburban passenger rail services in
Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
and Wellington were a part of the
New Zealand Railways Department The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway ...
, while bus services were owned either by city corporations or Railways Road Services. With the restructuring of the department into the
New Zealand Railways Corporation New Zealand Railways Corporation (NZRC) is the state-owned enterprise that owns the land beneath KiwiRail's Rail transport in New Zealand, railway network on behalf of the Crown. The Corporation has existed under a number of guises since 1982, wh ...
in 1982, the Auckland suburban rail operation was branded "Cityrail Auckland" from 1984 and later in the mid 1980s suburban bus and rail services were branded ''Cityline'' as part of the Corporation's Rail Passenger Group. Further restructuring of the rail network came in 1991, and the suburban rail operations were renamed "Cityrail" after they were transferred to New Zealand Rail Limited in 1991. That year the
Auckland Regional Council The Auckland Regional Council (ARC) was the regional council (one of the former local government authorities) of the Auckland Region. Its predecessor the Auckland Regional Authority (ARA) was formed in 1963 and became the ARC in 1989. The AR ...
bought the Auckland Cityrail fleet and contracted New Zealand Rail to run it, extending the contract until 1993 and again for 10 years until 2003. In 1993 New Zealand Rail Limited was privatised, renamed
Tranz Rail Tranz Rail, formally Tranz Rail Holdings Limited (New Zealand Rail Limited until 1995), was the main Rail transport in New Zealand, rail operator in New Zealand from 1991 until it was purchased by Toll Holdings in 2003. History The New Zealand ...
in 1995, with Cityrail rebranded Tranz Metro. On 15 December 2000, as part of management changes at Tranz Rail, the company split Tranz Metro into wholly owned subsidiaries Tranz Metro Auckland Ltd and Tranz Metro Wellington Ltd, with the intention of selling them. Stagecoach New Zealand and
Greater Wellington Regional Council Wellington Regional Council, branded as Greater Wellington Regional Council, is the regional council overseeing the Wellington Region of New Zealand's lower North Island. It is responsible for public transport under the brand Metlink, environ ...
(GWRC) announced their intention to bid for the Wellington company, but both were barred by the Commerce Commission from doing so. Tranz Rail did not bid for the Auckland contract when it expired in 2003. Connex (later Veolia and now
Transdev Transdev, formerly Veolia Transdev, is a French-based international private-sector company which operates public transport. It has operations in 17 countries and territories as of November 2020. History The group was formed by the merger of V ...
) won the contract, and took over from 23 August 2004. Tranz Metro Wellington reverted to a business unit of Tranz Rail, with new contracts being signed with GWRC in 2006 for network access, rolling stock maintenance and service delivery. The contracts expired in 2016. In 2004
Toll Holdings The Toll Group is an Australian-based subsidiary of Japan Post Holdings with operations in transportation, warehousing and logistics in road, rail, sea and air. It has two divisions; Global Forwarding, Global Logistics. History In 1888, Al ...
bought a majority shareholding in Tranz Rail and renamed the company
Toll NZ Toll Domestic Forwarding (TDF) is a division of the Toll Group specialising in freight forwarding by road, rail and sea within and between Australia and New Zealand. Toll is Australia’s largest mover of freight. Toll New Zealand is New ...
, and on 1 July 2008 it was bought (less the Tranz Link trucking and distribution arm) by the government and renamed
KiwiRail KiwiRail Holdings Limited is a New Zealand state-owned enterprise responsible for rail operations in New Zealand, and operates inter-island ferries. Trading as KiwiRail and headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand, KiwiRail is the largest rail ...
. In October 2009 Cabinet agreed on a Metropolitan Rail Operating Model, which requires the operating contracts for metropolitan rail operations to be "contestable". This is in line with Auckland's rail contract. An agreement signed in July 2011 transferred ownership of KiwiRail's station buildings, excluding
Wellington railway station Wellington railway station, or Wellington Central station, is the main railway station serving Wellington, New Zealand, and is the southern terminus of the North Island Main Trunk, Wairarapa Line and Johnsonville Line. The station opened in ...
, to the GWRC, along with the D/DM class and EM/ET units (the FP/FT units were already owned by GWRC). KiwiRail retained ownership of the tracks, platforms, electric traction and signalling systems. The assets were valued at $107.5 million. Ownership of the fleet transferred on 1 July 2011 to Greater Wellington Rail Ltd, formed by Greater Wellington Regional Council in 2006. In 2014,
Transdev Transdev, formerly Veolia Transdev, is a French-based international private-sector company which operates public transport. It has operations in 17 countries and territories as of November 2020. History The group was formed by the merger of V ...
announced its intention to bid for the operations contract when it came up for renewal in 2016. The contract was awarded to a partnership between Transdev and
Hyundai Rotem Hyundai Rotem (founded in 1977) is a South Korean company that manufactures rolling stock, defense products and plant equipment. It is a part of the Hyundai Motor Group. Its name was changed from Rotem to Hyundai Rotem in December 2007 to refl ...
effective from July 2016.


Operations

Metlink trains are operated under contract from the GWRC, which subsidises the operation and owns station buildings and rolling stock. Typically, 60% of that subsidy comes from central government through the
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (commonly known as Waka Kotahi, and abbreviated as NZTA) is a New Zealand Crown entity tasked with promoting safe and functional transport by land, including the responsibility for driver and vehicle licensing, an ...
(formerly
Land Transport New Zealand Land Transport New Zealand was a Crown entity in New Zealand, tasked with promoting safe and functional transport by land, and includes responsibilities such as driver and vehicle licensing. It was created on 1 December 2004 by the Land Transpor ...
), which approves such funding after analysis of the economics and net benefits, the remainder coming from the GWRC. Public consultation in 2005–2006 resulted in some changes of emphasis in the new contract, which runs for ten years from June 2006. The September 2006 fare rises and section changes were stated to part-pay for a major upgrade of trains and facilities over the next few years in conjunction with regional bus service improvements.


Rolling stock

Rolling stock as at 2 July 2016:


Former rolling stock


Upgrades

In 2008-2011 KiwiRail and GWRC undertook a major upgrade of the Metlink network, dubbed the Wellington Regional Rail Programme (WRPP). The $390 million program included: *The purchase of 48 two-car electric multiple units, the "Matangi" FP/FT class, to replace the aging DM/D class units and to increase capacity. *Upgrading the electrification system, including refurbishing the overhead lines and masts and 12 new substations to increase electrical supply for the Matangi units. *Upgrading the
signalling system In signal processing, a signal is a function that conveys information about a phenomenon. Any quantity that can vary over space or time can be used as a signal to share messages between observers. The ''IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing'' ...
, including replacing control systems and signal wiring and hardening the track circuits from interference with the electrification. *Upgrading platforms at several stations to accommodate Matangi units and longer train lengths. *Upgrading the Johnsonville Line to accommodate both Ganz Mavag and Matangi units, by improving the loading gauge in the tunnels and under some bridges. *Lengthening the three crossing loops on the Johnsonville Line to take longer trains. *Double-tracking the Kapiti Line from
Mackays Crossing Mackays Crossing is a locality in the Kapiti Coast District of New Zealand's North Island, located between Paekākāriki to the south and Raumati South to the north. Name The locality was previously officially named MacKays Crossing, but was of ...
through
Paraparaumu Paraparaumu () is a town in the south-western North Island of New Zealand. It lies on the Kapiti Coast, north of the nation's capital city, Wellington. Like other towns in the area, it has a partner settlement at the coast called Paraparaumu Bea ...
to just south of
Waikanae Waikanae (, ) is a town on the Kapiti Coast, 60 kilometres north of the Wellington CBD. The name is a Māori word meaning "waters" (''wai'') "of the grey mullet". The town lies between Paraparaumu, eight kilometres to the southwest, and Ōtak ...
, to increase capacity. (The double track stops short of Waikanae Station to avoid the cost of building second bridges over
State Highway 1 The following highways are numbered 1. For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads. For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads. For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads. For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads. For roads numbere ...
and the
Waikanae River Waikanae River is located on the Kapiti Coast in the North Island of New Zealand. The river drains the western flanks of the Tararua Ranges around Reikorangi and the Akatarawa Valley, then passes to the south of the town of Waikanae to the nor ...
.) * Electrifying the Kapiti Line from Paraparaumu to Waikanae. *Adding additional stabling storage at Paekakariki and Waikanae for the Matangi and Ganz Mavag units. *Installing a third, bi-directional, line into between Wellington Station and the Kapiti/Hutt Valley line junction to ease congestion at peak times. Work started on the programme in 2008, and was largely completed in February 2011.Wellington Region Rail Programme (WRRP)
, Ontrack.


Funding

In 2011/2012, Tranz Metro had annual operational expenses of $80.437m, and revenues of $80.442m. Most revenue (47% or $37.8m) comes from fares, 22% or $17.69m comes from
Wellington Regional Council Wellington Regional Council, branded as Greater Wellington Regional Council, is the regional council overseeing the Wellington Region of New Zealand's lower North Island. It is responsible for Public transport in the Wellington Region, public ...
rates, and 30% or $24.13m from
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (commonly known as Waka Kotahi, and abbreviated as NZTA) is a New Zealand Crown entity tasked with promoting safe and functional transport by land, including the responsibility for driver and vehicle licensing, an ...
public transport funding.


See also

*
Rail transport in New Zealand Rail transport in New Zealand is an integral part of New Zealand's transport network, with a nationwide network of of track linking most major cities in the North and South Islands, connected by inter-island rail and road ferries. Rail trans ...
*
Public transport in the Wellington Region The Wellington Region has a well developed public transport system, the most used in New Zealand. It consists of Bus, electric and diesel buses, commuter trains, ferry, ferries and a funicular (the Wellington Cable Car). It also included trams u ...
*
List of Wellington railway stations This page lists all railway stations in Wellington, New Zealand that are or were on Wellington's suburban passenger rail network. Ownership of all station buildings except Wellington was transferred to Greater Wellington Regional Council on 1 Jul ...
*
List of rapid transit systems These lists of rapid transit systems are sorted by the type of system: * List of tram and light rail transit systems * List of town tramway systems * Medium-capacity rail transport system * List of premetro systems * List of metro systems * List of ...


References

{{NZ RailOps Railway companies of New Zealand