New Zealand DL class locomotive
| New Zealand DL class | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DL9020 on a freight train near Papakura, Auckland. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sources: ‡, †, others | |||||||||||||||||||||||
The New Zealand DL class of diesel-electric locomotives was manufactured for KiwiRail by CRRC Dalian with engines from MTU. They were the most powerful diesel-electric locomotives in service in New Zealand until the introduction of the DM locomotives to the South Island in 2025.
In 2009, an order for 20 locomotives was placed (delivered 2010-2011), and a further 20 were ordered in 2011 (for 2012 delivery but postponed to 2013 due to reliability issues). A third batch of eight was ordered in September 2013 (delivered 2015). A fourth order for an additional 15 was placed by KiwiRail in 2016, to replace the EF class electric locomotives on the North Island Main Trunk, but the decision to scrap the electrification was later reversed. A fifth batch of 10 locomotives was ordered in 2020.
The DLs were the first newly built diesel-electric mainline locomotives on New Zealand's rail network since the DF class was introduced in 1979. The order marked one of the first steps of considerable investment in KiwiRail, and the first order for a Chinese-built locomotive from the country.