The first of the trains being built for use in the $500 million upgrade of the Wellington rail network arrived in the capital on Saturday.
The 48 new two-car train units are being built in South Korea at a cost of $235 million.
The first carriage was unloaded from a cargo ship at CentrePort at about 6am and was moved by trailer to nearby train tracks, then lowered onto them by crane.
KiwiRail says the Matangi trains will go through a comprehensive testing and trial period, and are expected to start operating on the Hutt line before Christmas.
Wellington Regional Council says the remaining trains will arrive from Korea at a rate of about four a month over the next year or so.
