KiwiRail

Kiwirail has all but ruled out its own workshops, including Dunedin's Hillside workshops, being given the chance to "have a crack" at tendering to build $375 million worth of passenger trains for Auckland.

Labour and the Greens are throwing their weight behind a union campaign for KiwiRail to build Auckland's new electric locomotives and railcars.

Dunedin yesterday launched its bid to have a $375 million contract for Auckland's new electric commuter trains awarded to railway workshops in Dunedin and Lower Hutt - creating as many as 1270 jobs.

The campaign for Dunedin engineering firms to gain some of the nearly $400 million KiwiRail plans spending on new rolling stock begins in earnest on Monday with the release of an economic report.

An "aging train fleet" is the reason for cancellations and delays on Wellington's rail network this morning, KiwiRail says.

A third fault on Wellington's rail network has further inconvenienced commuters, with a signal and points failure around 11am seeing trains replaced by buses between Plimmerton and Paraparaumu.

One Taieri Gorge train excursion and three freight services had to be cancelled yesterday as repair work was carried out on points and tracks between Mosgiel and South Dunedin caused by a fault in a wagon.

Auckland's rail system will receive $500 million to buy electric trains.

Nearly two years of finger-pointing over an unpaid $275,000 bill for damage to Dunedin's historic pedestrian railway overbridge could be coming to an end.