One of the new trains at the CAF facility in Mexico. Photo: Supplied
The first of 23 new electric passenger trains for Auckland's railway network has arrived in the city, with more due over the next month.
The new trains have been built by manufacturer CAF at its Mexico factory, and have the same design as existing trains, with a maximum speed of up to 110km/h.
According to CAF's website, the trains consist of three cars each with a total capacity of 380 passengers.
Auckland Transport's director of public transit and active modes Stacey van der Putten said the trains would add capacity to the network and balance demand more consistently.
"What people will see initially is more resilience across the network, in terms of adding six cars, rather than a three-car configuration, until we get to [the City Rail Link]."
"Obviously once CRL is operating, we'll have more trains moving across the network, so it opens up that capacity."
She said the new trains would be able to carry an extra 8620 people.
The increase in frequency because of the City Rail Link would mean that any unplanned event may cause domino effect disruption - but van der Putten said having more capacity would help reduce the delay between services and cope with unplanned interruptions.
The trains are expected to last about 35 years. Photo: Supplied
"Obviously we have had a lot of reliability issues across our network in recent years. That's not so much to do with trains or the volume of trains, it's got more to do with obviously getting the network up to a certain standard to meet CRL."
That reliability was something Auckland Transport was collectively working on, she said.
The first 57 electric trains to enter Auckland's passenger fleet were nearing 10-years-old and in need of maintenance, and van der Putten said new trains would give Auckland Transport the flexibility to do that.
The trains' planned lifetime was about 35 years.
"When they come, they actually come as individual cars. So the first step is actually getting to the depot where we put them together as a three-car formation," she said.
From there, trains were tested across the network before being put into operation, working with KiwiRail on track access.
People could expect to see the new trains in operation nearer to the end of the year, van der Putten said.
