July target for new rail carriages | Wairarapa News | Local News in Wairarapa

THE first of the new rail carriages for the Wairarapa line is expected to go into service about July of next year, according to a Wairarapa representative on the Greater Wellington Regional Council, Rick Long.

The council's passenger transport division is getting tender documents prepared for the building of 18 new carriages for Wairarapa using the frame of some existing ex-British Rail carriages.

These tender documents should be available by the end of November, allowing tenders to be called before Christmas.

"Subject to workshop capacity, it should mean that the first new carriage will be developed by July 2005. It is intended to get the new carriages into service as they arrive rather than wait for a full train set of six carriages. The expectation is that the carriages will be built over an 18-month period," Mr Long said.