Wellington's electric trolley bus wires to start coming down in a week

Tuesday, 3 October 2017

Work to remove Wellington's electric trolley bus wires will begin on October 10.

The dismantling of Wellington's 82 kilometres of electric trolley bus wires will start in a week, with the last of the trolleys to be retired by the end of the month.

NZ Bus announced in April last year it had signed a $43 million deal to fit a 'significant number' of its 1100 buses in Auckland and Wellington – including the capital's 60 trolleys – with Wrightspeed motors, which operate mostly on rechargeable electric batteries.

The $11 million project will see 82 kilometres of overhead wires taken down.

The trolleys were due to be retired in June, but were given a stay of execution until October 31 as uncertainty remained over the progress of the Wrightspeed technology.

A rollout date for the Wrightspeeds is still to be confirmed, but it is hoped they will be in the capital by July, with diesel buses from Auckland to replace them in the meantime.

Greater Wellington regional councillors tested out the first Wrightspeed electric hybrid prototype at NZ Bus' Newlands depot last week.

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The $11m decommissioning project, to be carried out by specialist firm Broadspectrum, will begin on October 10 with the removal of wires on an unused emergency section through the Wellington CBD, which runs along Featherston St, Hunter St, Victoria St, Jervois Quay, Wakefield St, lower Taranaki St and Whitmore St.

Wellington Cable Car chief executive Simon Fleisher said the remainder of the work would begin on November 1, after power to the trolleys was turned off.

Residents along trolley routes could expect some machinery noise, and might be asked to move their cars so crews could access wires and poles, Fleisher said.

However, with about 200 metres of wire to be removed at a time, disruptions should affect residents in each area for only one night.

The overhead network should still be regarded as 'live' after October 31, as the wires could still be dangerous, he said.

The trolleys have been retired in stages, with about 40 still running on the network.