#4642
New Zealand EF class locomotive
🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·built by Brush Traction· from 1986· class of 22 New Zealand electric locomotives
1 photo from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. KiwiRail train from Feilding to Halcombe: Cody Cooper· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
The New Zealand EF class locomotive (originally Class 30) is a class of 25 kV 50 Hz AC electric locomotives that operate on the North Island Main Trunk (NIMT) between Palmerston North and Te Rapa in New Zealand. Built by Brush Traction in Loughborough, England between 1986 and 1988 to run on the new electrified central section of the NIMT, at 3,000 kilowatts (4,000 hp), they are the most powerful locomotives to operate in New Zealand (equalled by the DM class diesel locomotives introduced in 2025).
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 40 years ago, in 1986.
- 3 MW is about 35 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 18 African elephants (~6 t each).
- Served for 2 years (1987–1989).
electric locomotive: Draws power from overhead wires or a third rail and pulls separate carriages.
spec sheet
- built
- 1986–1988
- in service from
- 1987
- retired
- 1989
- status
- in service
- number built
- 22
- kind
- Electric
- traction
- electric
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- Brush Traction
- operators
- New Zealand Railways Corporation
- top speed
- 105 km/h
- power
- 3 MW
- gauge
- 1,067 mm Cape gauge
- electric system
- overhead
- wheel arrangement
- Bo′Bo′Bo′
- weight
- 107 t
- nicknames
- Toasters
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q7015338, Wikipedia: New Zealand EF class locomotive (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.