They’re nothing great LOL…

@@danieleyre8913 Exactly!

@@danieleyre8913 They did ride better than the ADKs though

@@HotForgeChaos Not a very high standard of comparison there. It’s like saying they have a smoother ride than a ford model T from a century ago.

@@danieleyre8913 Yeah but you either compare them to the ADKs or the SA sets which were well known to bottom out the suspension on the shittier parts of track

Diesel Alternator. Runs at a set speed all the time

At the moment they're being kept at GVR I think some are being sold on but not sure at this stage unfortunately most of them have been tagged

They need to keep an example for MOTAT

Fingers crossed that another regional council in NZ buys them. Second best outcome will be if they get sold to another government in Africa. The worst outcome will be that they get scrapped.

@@danieleyre8913 It'd be a crime to scrap perfectly serviceable equipment. There's still plenty of NT855s out there to replace the engines in these, same with the Detroits in the ADC cars, Voith transmissions are still produced, everything else is pretty standardised stuff. Another city in Mozambique would do well to acquire these

They would be less well suited to such a long run than the current capital connection service carriages as they have no on board toilet facilities. The GWRC (with input from horizons Manawatu and Kiwirail) have put forth a business case to the MoT for a small fleet of dual-mode 4-car multiple units with intercity/commuter comfy seats, luggage racks, toilets & ED recharge points. They’re intended to initially replace the carriages and locomotive hauled rolling stock for the Capital connection & Wairarapa Connection services, but they will offer flexibility to expand those services with the forecast future growth in demand. Unfortunately: The government and Transport minister Michael Wood did not approve the case (and have not said why). I’ve heard anecdotally from social associates of mine that it is because Wood thinks that money should instead be spent on extending electrification northward (and because he’s a dickhead ideologue who has his own ideas and just won’t listen to Kiwirail, the GWRC, NZTA, experienced transport people, etc). But this may not be true. What is undeniable is that something will have to happen in the next few years, because Kiwirail has warned that Diesel-Electric locomotives suitable for both commuter operations are highly unlikely to become available within the decade. So hopefully; they don’t give up and keep resubmitting. After-all: Wood or Grant Robinson might change their minds, or Wood might be gone with a cabinet change.

@@danieleyre8913 Wood will be gone at the next election anyway, as will the rest of this shockingly bad government

@@HotForgeChaos I frankly wouldn’t put money on Labour losing the election at the end of this year. Because the opposition is still abysmal, and the more this Chris Luxon gets in front of a camera with his low confidence and poor articulation & vocabulary and pansy sounding voice as the election approaches; the more they will lose votes, especially given that National has decided to adopt hard right policies that people will not like (such as the repeat of the stupid boot camps). I’m not making a prediction either way, I’m expecting it will be close with a low turnout.

They are probably too big to fit in the tunnels between Paekakariki and Plimmerton. Perth had a bigger loading gauge than NZ. IIRC They only had running rights between Waitakere and Mercer and branches. When they arrived in Auckland some track had to be realigned under bridges and thru tunnels so they could fit.