Redevelopment of Dunedin's Hillside railway workshop will begin this year after funding for the project was allocated in last week's Budget, KiwiRail says.
An image of the planned redevelopment of the Hillside railway workshops in Dunedin. Photo: KiwiRail
The government gave the workshops $85 million to build a new wagon assembly facility.
KiwiRail expects to take on 45 new staff for wagon assembly, and said it would ensure at least 10 percent of its new intake were apprentices or trainees.
"The investment is supporting the local economy with 250 construction jobs needed for the rebuild," KiwiRail group chief executive Greg Miller said.
About 90 staff were laid off when the workshops were mostly closed down in 2012, and in 2019 the government announced $20m funding for upgrades to the adjacent mechanical workshop where train maintenance and servicing was carried out.
"These government investments, together with funding from KiwiRail, will see Hillside revitalised over the next few years - creating jobs, new skills, and guaranteeing the future of the historic Dunedin site," Miller said.
An image of the planned Hillside railway workshop redevelopment. Photo: KiwiRail
Staged demolition will begin this year and the redeveloped site is expected to be operational by mid to late 2023.
It includes a new mechanical workshop, where up to 20 locomotives or wagons can be worked on at a time, and a new wagon assembly facility, where two wagons can be assembled a day.
KiwiRail expects to assemble at least 1500 wagons over three years.
Shared offices and workshops will allow KiwiRail's track maintenance and signals staff to move to the site, and once the work is complete more than 100 staff people will be based there.