The EMU mockup has been in the country for a while now and has been used to refine the design for our new trains, now that AT have finished using it for that purpose it is now on display to the public so if you haven’t seen it, now is your chance as it has been moved to MOTAT.
The Mockup when it was launched
Here is the AT press release:
Auckland Transport and MOTAT team up to display
tomorrow’s electric trains for AucklandAucklanders now have the chance to check out their new electric trains as a mock-up goes on display at MOTAT.
Fifty-seven three-car electric trains will replace the current aging diesel locomotives servicing the suburban rail network when the new fleet starts arriving from Spanish manufacturers Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles SA (CAF).
The new trains will incorporate the latest technology in terms of safety, accessibility and modern amenities like on-board Wi-Fi networks. They will be comfortable, quiet, environmentally friendly and attractive.
The 12.5m mock-up is far smaller than the 70m trains that will travel across Auckland. But it includes a full driver’s cab and sections of the upper and lower seating areas of the passenger cabins. It was built primarily as an engineering tool to allow refinements to be made to the design and layout of the train.
Over the past three months, designers, engineers, operating crew and user groups have been assessing the interior design and making adjustments. This work has considered such things as the size, shape and spacing of seats, the seat configuration around the doors, the provision for bike and pushchair storage and wheelchair turning spaces, along with analysing how these areas interact with the general passenger seating and flow in the cabins.
“Ensuring the design meets the needs of people using Auckland’s suburban rail network is critical,” says Mayor Len Brown. “Our current rising demand will go through the roof as a result of the new trains, ticket integration and completion of vital infrastructure projects like the City Rail Link.”
The mock-up has been moved to MOTAT for display so that everybody has the opportunity to see some of the thinking that has gone into designing Auckland’s purpose-built electric trains.
MOTAT Museum Director, Jeremy Hubbard says, “We are thrilled to be giving Aucklanders a sneak preview into the future of how their rail travel will change, as well as the chance to step inside and explore the driver’s cab. It adds another great interactive and educational display to MOTAT.”
Auckland Central – visit MOTAT Free 1-28 September
From September 1-28, Auckland Central residents can gain free entry to MOTAT by displaying their rates bill or proof of address on entry. A list of eligible suburbs can be found on the MOTAT website, www.motat.org.nz.
why are only former Auckland City council suburbs free, now the rating system has been standardised?
They had a free month for west Auckland a little while ago so I think it is just rotating around the region
While being sure Matt L’s answer is the correct one, I’d rather see it as some payback for the years and years when all the other councils were refusing to fund anything and the Auckland City ratepayers were covering the lion’s share of running the Zoo, MOTAT, the Museum, and the Westpac Helicopter. That would be called karma.
I hope they explain to visiting punters in clear communication that the mock-up is NOT showing a standard train. I have heard several people mention how ridiculous it was that they were providing for so many wheelchairs and bike spaces in such a small space – totally missing the point that the central carriage is mocked-up to two other sections and doesn’t represent a full train, which has proprotionally much more general seating / wheelchair & spaces also provided – because the wheelchair and bike spaces are provided only in one of 3 carriages…
Shouldn’t it have a big orange line right around the middle of the cabin or something, to show where the segments change?
Is there a train station anywhere near Motat for me to disembark and have a look at the Cab?
I wish they could’ve let the public have a look when it was at the waterfront, downtown Auckland. A prime location there, next to the train terminal. But I guess that train has passed!
Morningside or Baldwin are the closest stations, but a hell of a lot of buses run right across the front door too.
Agree central/near a train station would be better.. but pretty much all the West Auckland buses go down Great North Rd past MOTAT, so should be easy to get to. When I caught buses on Gt Nth Rd it was the closest thing I’ve experienced in Auckland to a real frequent bus service (I could walk to the bus stop and know that there would be a bus w/in 5mins.. no rushing off to catch a particular bus.. was wonderful)
Baldwin Ave plus abit of a walk…?
Not a particularly effective way of reinforcing trains as the future, not the past.
Museums- where we are used to scorching our trains from…. Come on AT what are you saying here?
Hi there,
The MOTAT website does not state any thing about the mockup. Has anyone been there and can confirm that it is at MOTAT?