Foxton96
Stagecoach 1995 M.A.N No. 534
A snap of the 1995 M.A.N that has Designline B39D bodywork at the Lambton Interchange "Bull Ring",
From memory, a view I recorded around the time that it was new to service showing 253 with a Route 5 Hataitai destination, a route that was normally worked by trolleybuses during the peak hours.
Some wag reckons that M.A.N stands for “Mechanic Always Needed”.
Stagecoach's first investment in the New Zealand transport market was the purchase of Wellington City Transport Limited from Wellington City Council in 1992.
CARJAM DETAILS:
Make: 1995 MAN
Model: 11.190 HOCL
Colour:White
Second Colour:Orange
VIN: 7AB7520216AX00303
Plate: TG5855
Engine No: 17477175757111
Seats:40 [39 passengers]
CC rating: 6,871cc
Fuel Type: Diesel
Assembly Type:Unknown
Country of Origin: Germany
NZ First Registration: 6 April 1995
BEGINNING OF THE END FOR WELLINGTON'S TROLLEYBUSES AS AXE FALLS ON HATAITAI ROUTE
Stuff, 5 October 2015
The demise of Wellington's trolleybuses has begun.
Safety issues with the overhead wires at Hataitai have seen the capital's iconic trolleys yanked off their first city bus route, despite Greater Wellington Regional Council vowing to keep the network running until June 2017.
The decision to replace the fully-electric trolleys from the No.5 Wellington-Hataitai Loop service with diesel buses has drawn criticism from within the council's own ranks.
But the council's transport portfolio leader Paul Swain says it was a "wise decision" as the alternative would have cost ratepayers $1.3 million in repairs.
The regional council decided in 2014 that it would not persist with the capital's 60 electric trolleybuses beyond mid-2017, which is when the council's redesigned system of bus routes and contracts with bus companies kicks in.
The region's 218 diesel buses will also be progressively phased out as they reach the end of their useful lives between 2017 and 2032, to be replaced by hybrid diesel-electric buses, and then eventually fully-electric buses.
But the first pieces of overhead wires disappeared in September after problems were discovered with the Hataitai section of the network.
Fixing the entire section was priced at $1.6m, or the council could save $1.3m by decommissioning part of the wires at the intersection of Hataitai and Waitoa roads, meaning trolleys could no longer turn between the two streets.
That meant the five trolleybuses servicing the No.5 route would have to be replaced by diesel buses.
"We decided that for the sake of five buses per day, it wasn't worth asking the ratepayers to pay $1.3m," Swain said.
"This is not some sneaky effort to start decommissioning the trolley bus network by stealth. We're still spending money to ensure it can continue until 2017."
He pointed out the regional council had $22m budgeted until June 2017 to operate and maintain the trolleybus network, $9m of which was for maintenance of the overhead wires.
But regional councillor Sue Kedgley said it was another example of Greater Wellington being too quick to give up on trolleys, which she believed should be persisted with until fully electric buses were on the market.
Many Wellingtonians did not realise the promised hybrid buses would not be ready to go come July 1, 2017, and the trolleys would have to be replaced with diesel buses to begin with, she said.
"It's incredibly short-sighted. It's going backwards, not forwards."
She had seen University of Otago research that suggested replacing Wellington's trolleys with diesels could see carbon emissions jump by as much as 20 per cent in places where buses pile up during peak time, such as Willis St.
Swain acknowledged it was likely emissions being generated by the region's bus fleet would increase slightly in the latter half of 2017.
But by January 2018, half the of the region's entire fleet would be new buses, while the remaining 50 per cent would be a better standard of diesel than the oldest buses currently operating across Wellington, he said.
At 6pm on 18 September 2015, No. 341 departed the Interchange at Wellington Railway Station.
It was just another service taking commuters home through Mt Victoria to Hataitai. But this Route 5 service was to be last of its kind - the end of trolleybus working to Hataitai. There was nothing to mark the occasion, no banners, no farewell tickets, and no ceremony. Even the passengers destined to travel to a stop on the Hataitai loop would have been unaware that this was to be their last ever ride home on a trolleybus. The decision had been quietly made to turn all services over to diesel operation on the peak-hour only Route 5.
In the words of the song, made famous by Joni Mitchell (Big Yellow Taxi), “you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone”. Hataitai residents have lost their “Big Yellow Taxi”, except it was the big yellow Go Wellington trolleybus.
Wellington's trolleybuses are not due at the scrap heap until July 2017, but the first pieces of the overhead wire network has already disappeared from Hataitai.
Stagecoach 1995 M.A.N No. 534
A snap of the 1995 M.A.N that has Designline B39D bodywork at the Lambton Interchange "Bull Ring",
From memory, a view I recorded around the time that it was new to service showing 253 with a Route 5 Hataitai destination, a route that was normally worked by trolleybuses during the peak hours.
Some wag reckons that M.A.N stands for “Mechanic Always Needed”.
Stagecoach's first investment in the New Zealand transport market was the purchase of Wellington City Transport Limited from Wellington City Council in 1992.
CARJAM DETAILS:
Make: 1995 MAN
Model: 11.190 HOCL
Colour:White
Second Colour:Orange
VIN: 7AB7520216AX00303
Plate: TG5855
Engine No: 17477175757111
Seats:40 [39 passengers]
CC rating: 6,871cc
Fuel Type: Diesel
Assembly Type:Unknown
Country of Origin: Germany
NZ First Registration: 6 April 1995
BEGINNING OF THE END FOR WELLINGTON'S TROLLEYBUSES AS AXE FALLS ON HATAITAI ROUTE
Stuff, 5 October 2015
The demise of Wellington's trolleybuses has begun.
Safety issues with the overhead wires at Hataitai have seen the capital's iconic trolleys yanked off their first city bus route, despite Greater Wellington Regional Council vowing to keep the network running until June 2017.
The decision to replace the fully-electric trolleys from the No.5 Wellington-Hataitai Loop service with diesel buses has drawn criticism from within the council's own ranks.
But the council's transport portfolio leader Paul Swain says it was a "wise decision" as the alternative would have cost ratepayers $1.3 million in repairs.
The regional council decided in 2014 that it would not persist with the capital's 60 electric trolleybuses beyond mid-2017, which is when the council's redesigned system of bus routes and contracts with bus companies kicks in.
The region's 218 diesel buses will also be progressively phased out as they reach the end of their useful lives between 2017 and 2032, to be replaced by hybrid diesel-electric buses, and then eventually fully-electric buses.
But the first pieces of overhead wires disappeared in September after problems were discovered with the Hataitai section of the network.
Fixing the entire section was priced at $1.6m, or the council could save $1.3m by decommissioning part of the wires at the intersection of Hataitai and Waitoa roads, meaning trolleys could no longer turn between the two streets.
That meant the five trolleybuses servicing the No.5 route would have to be replaced by diesel buses.
"We decided that for the sake of five buses per day, it wasn't worth asking the ratepayers to pay $1.3m," Swain said.
"This is not some sneaky effort to start decommissioning the trolley bus network by stealth. We're still spending money to ensure it can continue until 2017."
He pointed out the regional council had $22m budgeted until June 2017 to operate and maintain the trolleybus network, $9m of which was for maintenance of the overhead wires.
But regional councillor Sue Kedgley said it was another example of Greater Wellington being too quick to give up on trolleys, which she believed should be persisted with until fully electric buses were on the market.
Many Wellingtonians did not realise the promised hybrid buses would not be ready to go come July 1, 2017, and the trolleys would have to be replaced with diesel buses to begin with, she said.
"It's incredibly short-sighted. It's going backwards, not forwards."
She had seen University of Otago research that suggested replacing Wellington's trolleys with diesels could see carbon emissions jump by as much as 20 per cent in places where buses pile up during peak time, such as Willis St.
Swain acknowledged it was likely emissions being generated by the region's bus fleet would increase slightly in the latter half of 2017.
But by January 2018, half the of the region's entire fleet would be new buses, while the remaining 50 per cent would be a better standard of diesel than the oldest buses currently operating across Wellington, he said.
At 6pm on 18 September 2015, No. 341 departed the Interchange at Wellington Railway Station.
It was just another service taking commuters home through Mt Victoria to Hataitai. But this Route 5 service was to be last of its kind - the end of trolleybus working to Hataitai. There was nothing to mark the occasion, no banners, no farewell tickets, and no ceremony. Even the passengers destined to travel to a stop on the Hataitai loop would have been unaware that this was to be their last ever ride home on a trolleybus. The decision had been quietly made to turn all services over to diesel operation on the peak-hour only Route 5.
In the words of the song, made famous by Joni Mitchell (Big Yellow Taxi), “you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone”. Hataitai residents have lost their “Big Yellow Taxi”, except it was the big yellow Go Wellington trolleybus.
Wellington's trolleybuses are not due at the scrap heap until July 2017, but the first pieces of the overhead wire network has already disappeared from Hataitai.