New England Online > Geography > Transport > Railways & Trams > Rollingstock
Rollingstock
The New England Rail Authority owns a number of locomotives and other rollingstock which are used in freight, passenger and tourist operations across the country.
- History
- Current Fleet
- Livery
- Decommisioned Fleet
History
Rail operations in New England date back to 1882, when the Great Northern Railway was built from Tamworth to Uralla. Expansion of the network continued up until 1932 with the opening of the Grafton Bridge. After a boom period in the early to mid twentith century, the railway declined as the primary tranport network and was replaced by cars. Starting in the 1970s, the lines began to be progrssivly abnadoned, with lines to Dorrigo, Barraba, Inverell, Tenterfield and Glen Innes all falling out of use by the 1990s. Locomotive operations were steadly tranferred to large centres, with few yards remaining active by the time of the Civil War.
With the resumption of rail as a primary means of transport in 2013, the newly formed New England Rail was forced to aquire rollingstock from Pacific National to operate the fragmented network it had inherited. NERA took charge of twenty-five diesel locomaotives, and most contraversially, also bought half the surving fleet of electric 86 class locomotives to eventually replace the diesels when the network was electricfied. The move was seen as a waste, as the trains would have to remain stabled until electrification could be affored, but the government was vindictaed as the remaining 86 class locos were scrapped in 2015.
Current Fleet
There are currently 125 locomotives operated by New England Rail. Of these, 120 are AC electric and operate on the trunk branch lines. The remaining five are diesel locos, left in place to operate on the unelectrified Ashford Branch Line.
| Current Rollingstock | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Role | Type | No. | In Service |
| D81 | 2032 - Present | |||
| D82 | ||||
| E88 | Freight | 23 | 2035 - Present | |
| E89 | Freight | 24 | 2042 - Present | |
| I4 | Passenger | 12 | 2036 - Present | |
Livery
Unsually, New England Rail has used the same livery on it's locomotives since the first trains arrived in 2014. When the trains were delivered, it was decvided that New England would adopt a blue and gold livery for it's locos, which was in keeping with the national colours and generally nationalist sentitment of the time. Perhaps unusally, the design of the livery was inspited by the old New South Wales tuscan livery of the 1950s, with maron replaced by blue. This design endures the present day, ansd has become a symbol of the railways in New England.
Decommisioned Fleet
| Decommissioned Rollingstock | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Role | Type | No. | In Service |
| D48 | Freight | Diesel | 10 | 2014 - 2020 |
| D80 | Freight | Diesel | 25 | 2014 - 2033 |
| E86 | Freight | Electric | 25 | 2020 - 2044 |
