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The New Zealand EF class locomotive (originally Class 30) is a class of 22 electric locomotives that operate on the North Island Main Trunk between Palmerston North and Te Rapa (near Hamilton) in New Zealand. They are the only class of electric locomotives in revenue service in New Zealand. The EF class was built by Brush Traction in Loughborough, United Kingdom between 1986 and 1988 to run on the new electrified central section of the NIMT. The locomotives, at , are the most powerful locomotives to operate in New Zealand, and the design of the class has been used in designing other electric locomotives overseas, including the ''Le Shuttle'' Eurotunnel Class 9 electric locomotives that operate in the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France. ==Background== The North Island Main Trunk is a long rail line that links New Zealand's capital Wellington and New Zealand's largest city Auckland, and is one of the major backbones of the country's rail network. The line was completed in 1908 and opened the following year, and included various engineering feats on the central section between Hamilton and Palmerston North, including the Raurimu Spiral and numerous viaducts – five of which are over high. Electrification of the North Island Main Trunk was first proposed as early as 1918 due to coal shortages during World War I, and later was proposed in the 1950s when diesel locomotives started to replace steam. The section between Wellington and Paekakariki was electrified in 1938 at 1500 V DC to prevent steam build-up in the long Tawa tunnels under the Wellington hills and to provide banking on the steep seaside section from Paekakariki up to Pukerua Bay. This electrification has since been extended further north to Paraparaumu in 1983 and again to Waikanae in 2011. Following the oil shocks of the 1970s, the National government, led by Prime Minister Rob Muldoon, launched the "Think Big" energy development projects. One of the projects involved the electrification of the central section of the NIMT between Palmerston North and Te Rapa. This section was chosen for the topography of the line between these two cities, and the advantages electric locomotives had over diesel in this area. The DX class diesel-electric locomotives, then the mainstay of the NIMT and only recently introduced themselves, could handle 720-tonne freight trains on the section, but could only average when climbing the 1 in 52 gradient of the Raurimu Spiral. A more powerful locomotive however, in this case an electric locomotive, could haul a 900-tonne freight train up the same section of track at a speed of . Electric trains also had advantages during the 1970s oil shocks as New Zealand relied on imported oil to supply its diesel locomotives. Meanwhile, New Zealand's electricity supply is mainly generated from renewable hydroelectricity (hydroelectricity generated 84.5% of New Zealand's electricity in 1980), and therefore electric trains do not have to rely on imported oil to operate. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「New Zealand EF class locomotive」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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