Miro Rail has been founded by entrepreneur Rollo Wenlock alongside four other founders to design and manufacture next-generation battery electric railcars in Christchurch. Miro claims that the railcars emit 97% fewer carbon emissions than a trip by fossil-fueled car or plane.
The design of the new railcars, according to Wenlock, takes inspiration from bullet trains and airplanes, meaning the cars “hug the tracks” to achieve much high speeds. A media report by Stuff noted that the railcars will be able to travel up to 300km/h, although current rail conditions in New Zealand mean that the cars will initially be able to travel at 110km/h, with speed increasing in time.
“We enable regional rail to return to New Zealand by designing and manufacturing battery electric rail cars here in Christchurch,” said Wenlock. “In Aotearoa, where we have a small and dispersed population, traditional trains come with huge costs and it is difficult to fill carriages, whereas individual rail cars are very adaptive to scattered demand.
“National passenger rail services all but disappeared 20 years ago because it was too slow,” he continued. “It took almost twice the amount of time to get anywhere as it did to either drive or fly. But this doesn’t have to be the case. With over 3,500km of rail, we have a lot of great journeys to bring back.”
According to Wenlock, there are around 150 town on the rail lines in New Zealand, so “the potential to connect millions of people is massive.”
“With the infrastructure that already exists and the leaps we have made in the last decade with battery electric technology, fast electric rail cars are our secret weapon in fighting climate change,” he added.
According to a report by Business Desk New Zealand, Miro Rail is seeking at least NZ$2m in seed capital from next month. “Bringing regional rail back to NZ is capital intensive, and there are a lot of private investors keen to see this change,” Miro Rail said in a statement on LinkedIn.
Meanwhile, Stuff noted that aims to be testing prototypes within two years and could have the vehicles in service in five years.