Work on upgrading the signalling system at Wellington Railway Station continues apace, with the project team grabbing every opportunity – weekends, nights and public holidays – to make progress while trains aren’t running.
This is all gearing up towards the Christmas 2024 network shutdown, when engineers will switch off Wellington Railway Station’s existing, manual signalling system, complete any remaining works and then fully test and commission the new, computer-based system so that everything is ready to go when the trains come back into service in January. This final stage is extremely complex and will involve signalling engineers from all over the world. When trains run again in January 2025 they will be fully controlled by the new system, which will unlock the station’s capacity to support more local and regional train services in the future and provide additional safety features.
To prepare for the big finish, we're fitting in as much work on-site at the station as we can before Christmas at nights and weekends. It's a tough way to work: KiwiRail’s workers and contractors have to get in, get the work done (manoeuvring around 90 years of historical assets), get everything back in working order then get out as quickly as possible so that tens of thousands of commuters can get to work on a Monday morning.
At the same time, we're meticulously planning for Christmas. With so much to do during the network shutdown (not just at the station, but at several key sites around the Wellington region) it’s vital that KiwiRail’s project teams coordinate all the workers and equipment needed, as well as a detailed schedule of jobs to be done at each site.
Pictured: The new and the old. The new signals are being installed in positions that do not affect the visibility of the existing signals. This enables the Engineers to have the new system up and running in parallel with the old system and to test it before commissioning. Approximately 85% of the signals will be installed like this prior to commissioning.
Fact file
Signalling is the process by which train movements are controlled between and along tracks. It ensures that trains operate safely. Since 1937, the signals at Wellington Station have been controlled from a signal box in the station approaches known as A-Box. It's the last full-time manned signal box in the country. In here, seven signalling staff work around the clock in shifts, using manual levers to control the movement of trains from the station as far as Ngauranga. By January 2025, A-Box will close, and signalling for Wellington's entire rail network will be controlled remotely from the Wallaceville train control centre.