15 March 2021
Frequency has partnered with KiwiRail on the Christchurch Mechanical Redevelopment programme since August 2015 to replace infrastructure damaged and demolished as a result of the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes.
Following the successful delivery of the Middleton Locomotive Wash facilities in 2017, the focus turned to staged consolidation of rolling stock maintenance onto a single site at Waltham. The new Scenic Journeys Servicing Centre was identified as a priority to meet urgent environmental, health and safety compliance requirements due to substandard assets.
Frequency coordinated and managed the design process including working with the designer, automated wash supplier, and KiwiRail stakeholders such as site operations front line personnel to develop the concept for the new facilities. The complexities of designing and constructing a new facility in an operating rail yard cannot be understated and created many challenges for the project team that required a collaborative and innovative approach throughout the entire project. The recently completed facilities have delivered a cost effective, functional, environmentally sustainable solution for KiwiRail that significantly improves the working conditions for the site operations team.
This project has overcome many challenges including contaminated land remediation, COVID-19 restrictions, construction in a live rail environment, and post completion operation planning, all of which Frequency led the resolution of.
“We are delighted that the facility is now successfully servicing the KiwiRail South Island Scenic Journeys carriage fleet at Waltham and have really appreciated the opportunity to be a part of this strategic project for KiwiRail. We are now excited to be involved with the next stage of development at Waltham which will see the development of a centralised maintenance hub constructed over the coming years.”
Michael Wright – Project Manager & Construction Phase Engineer’s Representative
