Wellington sells 30-year-old rail cars to South Africa

A company in South Africa has purchased a fleet of 30-year-old rail cars from the New Zealand capital of Wellington.

The city has begun shipping the first of 34 electrical-multiple units (EMUs) built by Hungarian manufacturer Ganz Mavag to Africa where they will be converted into locomotive-hauled carriages for airport link services in Dar es Salaam and Tanzania, as well as train between Harare, Zimbabwe and the coast.

The ageing Ganz Mavag fleet is being phased out with the introduction of new Matangi trains.

All 48 two-car units ordered by Greater Wellington Regional Council from Hyundai Rotem are now operating on the electrified network.

Although the Matangi fleet will take over fully from the Ganz Mavags by mid-2015, the city has said it will keep one of the trains for “heritage purposes”.