New Zealand EF class locomotive

New Zealand EF class locomotive

EF Class backing onto a Wellington to Auckland train, March 2007.

Type and origin Power type Electric Builder Brush Traction, Loughborough, United Kingdom Build date 1986 – 1988

Specifications UIC class Bo-Bo-Bo Gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) Length 19.6 metres (64 ft 4 in) Loco weight 107 tonnes (105 long tons; 118 short tons) Electric system(s) 25 kV 50 Hz AC catenary Current collection Pantograph Traction motors 6

Performance figures Maximum speed 105 km/h (65 mph) Power output 3,000 kW (4,000 hp) (continuous)

Career Class EF, previously Class 30 Number in class 22 Numbers 30007 – 30249 Nicknames "Toasters" Locale North Island Main Trunk between Palmerston North and Te Rapa First run 1988 – 1989 Disposition 15 in service 2 scrapped 5 withdrawn

The New Zealand EF class locomotive (originally Class 30) is a class of 22 25 kV 50 Hz AC electric locomotives that operate on the North Island Main Trunk between Palmerston North and Te Rapa (near Hamilton) in New Zealand. They are the only class of electric locomotives in revenue service in New Zealand.

The EF class was built by Brush Traction in Loughborough, United Kingdom between 1986 and 1988 to run on the new electrified central section of the NIMT. The locomotives, at 3,000 kilowatts (4,000 hp), are the most powerful locomotives to operate in New Zealand, and the design of the class has been used in designing other electric locomotives overseas, including the Le Shuttle Eurotunnel Class 9 electric locomotives that operate in the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France.

The North Island Main Trunk is a 681-kilometre (423 mi) long rail line that links New Zealand's capital Wellington and New Zealand's largest city Auckland, and is one of the major backbones of the country's rail network. The line was completed in 1908 and opened the following year, and included various engineering feats on the central section between Hamilton and Palmerston North, including the Raurimu Spiral and numerous viaducts – five of which are over 70 metres (230 ft) high.

Electrification of the North Island Main Trunk was first proposed as early as 1918 due to coal shortages during World War I, and later was proposed in the 1950s when diesel locomotives started to replace steam. The section between Wellington and Paekakariki was electrified in 1938 at 1500 V DC to prevent steam build-up in the long Tawa tunnels under the Wellington hills and to provide banking on the steep seaside section from Paekakariki up to Pukerua Bay. This electrification has since been extended further north to Paraparaumu in 1983 and again to Waikanae in 2011.