2009 KiwiRail announced that Hillside Engineering had won the contract to build 17 new passenger cars for its two South Island long distance passenger trains, the TranzAlpine and the Coastal Pacific, classed AK. Part of the project also includes converting 6 existing AG vans into 2 open-air viewing vans and 4 luggage vans. In November 2011, the new cars entered service on the Coastal Pacific. Sale and closure In November 2012 KiwiRail announced it had sold part of the business to Australian firm Bradken, and the rest would be closed. Ninety jobs were lost. The opposition Labour Party said the sale was a "political decision", but KiwiRail said there wasn't enough work to keep the workshop operating. Hillside had earlier lost a contract to build new wagons for KiwiRail after it was revealed that it was not competitive and would not be able to deliver the wagons within the time frame specified. KiwiRail said they intended to allocate some work to the new owners, while other work was to be done at the company's Hutt workshops near Wellington. 2019 Upgrade and re-opening In the intervening years, Hillside Engineering's workshops continued to be used for some locomotive and wagon maintenance work by KiwiRail with a skeleton staff for overflow work from the KiwiRail Hutt Railway Workshops and maintenance and conversion work on South Island rolling stock. On 30 October 2019, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones announced that the Government would be investing $20 million into re-establishing Hillside workshop as a mechanical hub and heavy engineering facility to service KiwiRail's locomotives and rolling stock. This investment involves upgrading the two main workshop buildings and overhauling the mechanical plant. On 20 May 2021, State Owned Enterprises Minister David Clark confirmed that Hillside Engineering would receive NZ$85 million for new facilities to assemble about 1,500 wagons as part of the 2021 New Zealand budget. Transport Minister Michael Wood also stated that about 445 jobs would be created between Hillside and a new South Island Mechanical Maintenance Hub based in Christchurch. The Hillside investment would also support 150 construction jobs and 45 operational KiwiRail jobs including apprenticeships. To promote the refurbishment of Hillside and the 2021 budget, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Deputy Prime Minister Grant Robertson, and Dunedin MPs David Clark and Ingrid Leary visited the factory on 25 May 2021. The opposition ACT Party and the New Zealand Taxpayers' Union claimed the Hillside investment