This post is essentially an update on a very similar one I wrote seven years ago. Hamilton: City of the Future, the intervening years have confirmed those speculations. The case for good passenger rail service between our biggest city and its fast growing neighbour remains compelling. Below I offer a staged and proportionate way deliver on this promise.
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Three facts:
Hamilton is growing
Hamilton is NZ’s fastest growing city, says the Waikato Herald earlier this month:
Hamilton has been crowned New Zealand’s fastest-growing city for the second time.
The city’s population rose by 3.1% since 2023, Hamilton City Council said, to an estimated 192,000.
About 75% of the population growth came from international migration, and 25% from natural increase (births minus deaths).
Regionally, the mighty Waikato was crowned the second-fastest growing region in the country, Statistics New Zealand said.
The region has grown by 2.2% in the year ended June 2024, only topped by Auckland’s 2.5%.
Hamilton city centre is developing in quality
Things are getting really interesting in what has been one of the country’s more depressed and hollowed out city centres, new apartment projects along the river, a growing cafe and deli culture that these projects inevitably support, in a positive feedback loop. The new regional theatre is due to open next year -check out the video here creating a real arts precinct. It already has good things all within a reasonable walking catchment, the Museum, the cricket ground and rugby stadium. But still more than anything, a huge amount of potential.
There is demand for non-car travel between these cities
Te Huia has proven itself. Fight me. Despite its early years being severely messed around by covid, and it just being a slow and suboptimally scheduled service, people have turned up to use it. In numbers greater than conventional transport planning theory says it they should.
Taking 2 hours 40 minutes The Te Huia ‘start-up’ service is no contender for speed. Running from The Strand on an isolated edge of downtown Auckland to Frankton, also crucially a kind of nowhere, it leaves riders close but to, far from any useful destination at either end, and distant from any connecting services. It also doesn’t yet stop at many useful points along its route. It has no business being as popular as it is.
What is entirely supported by conventional transport planning theory is that a decent rail service between the two cities of the size and growth of Auckland and Hamilton is a valuable complement to other modes and key supporter of economic performance. So below I will look at what would it take to fix theses issues and make it decent.
For the purposes of this post I am assuming operating subsidies will be maintained from central and regional governments as they should be. Or I am writing for a time when a such normative processes are returned. I have no interest in claims that subsidies are bad and proof of failure. All transport including driving is subsidised, subsidies are transfers used to unlock diffuse value. Anyway even the current startup is already comparable with other services by subsidy (here):
The farebox recovery target of 15 per cent is close to being achieved, noting the national average is 11 per cent and Te Huia has a 25 per cent lower subsidy per passenger kilometre than the Auckland metro network.
Of course this should be improved, the key way to do is by attracting more use by improving the appeal and usefulness of the service.
So what should be done to build on this success of this startup?
In the immediate term every one of Darren Davis’ excellent proposed improvements should be adopted, read them in detail here:
- More stations in the Waikato
- More frequency
- Better bus connection at both ends
- A stop at Pukekohe
- Auckland paying its share
- More speed
Of the above #4 has been announced to be happening by Waikato Regional Council, though I am unsure if it is happening yet. Number #5 is shameful. Of course Auckland should also contribute to opex subsidy, around a fifth of riders are Aucklanders it serves Auckland destinations. However it is #6 that really matters. So outside of frequency and scheduling issues, adding some key stops (Pōkeno, Te Kauwhata, Ngāruawāhia), even improving what they offer in the dinning car, and other changes the two big ones are:
- Journey time
- Termini location
So with these issues in mind I had a look at the 2020 business case and working with these I have a staged way forward that balances improvement against capital cost. Keeping cost reasonable means not considering true high speed options on a new route in this, so will look at scenarios A + B only.
Before this it is important to note that the performance of Te Huia, like every train service in AKL, will benefit from the completion of both the rail rebuild programme and especially the third main currently underway in Auckland. This is most congested part of the nation’s rail network so speed and reliability through the most urban leg of the journey should improve dramatically next year. I just wish Kiwi Rail would understand the importance of communicating with us all and tell us by how much. Come-on KR- what can we look forward to? (and yes, hold you account to).
Scenario A
Scenario A, by closing the electrification gap, buying new electric trains, and building a new Hamilton central station sees journey time coming down from 160 minutes to 113, a little under 2 hours.
Scenario B
Scenario B does the above but also straightens out the worst of the track to enable top speeds of 160kph, further reducing journey time to 88mins, and hour and a half.
Staged and cost effective upgrades
Taking these two scenarios as stages over time I would adjust Stage 1 to two key moves that can bring all of the benefits at a considerably lower capital cost:
- Instead of completing the overhead line between Pukekohe to Te Rapa first, buy the Bi-mode battery electric trains to cover the this ~80km gap. This is proven and available technology. Target up to 110kph on existing track* for that sub two hour travel time.
- Build a sub-surface two track Hamilton Central Station below Bryce St integrated with the bus interchange on a branch on the East Coast Main (shown below). Enabling direct city centre to city centre, transport hub to transport hub, service.
*=the slow single track section at Whangamarino needs doubling and straightening under any future.
The cost of the recently completed 19km OHL extension in Auckland was $419m, so closing the remaining gap is likely to be in the order of $1.5-2b. Instead with battery bi-mode trains we can defer the new overhead wire cost to the next stage, yet still reap the benefits of full electrification. Wellington is getting 18 four car tri- or bi-mode interregional trainsets at a budget of $381m. Adding six more to this order can be assumed to be ~ $127m, including stabling and some track and charging costs. Six sets would allow hourly service at peaks and bi-hourly off peak.
Electric power means being able to use Waitematā Station and there will be two terminating platforms there once CRL opens, perfect for this service. Getting directly into both city centres is a huge upgrade, and is a relatively easy task. In Hamilton happily the both the city centre and the bus Interchange are very close to the East Coast Main, the rail corridor is wide and already heading below grade. The new track required can be entirely below Bryce St avoiding property acquisitions. Thus electrification and a new relatively cheap Hamilton station solves the lack of city centre to city centre service. Terminating in these two city centre stations adds real travel time savings on their own. Both are real destinations themselves, but also both are directly under each city’s biggest transfer hubs. The Strand and Frankton Stations are truly nowhere.
Electric traction also means faster acceleration and deceleration, enabling the service to add a few more useful stops while making up the time that takes by getting up to cruising speed between stations faster.
Red: existing East Coast Main, and existing bus interchange.
Blue: new track and subsurface station
Orange: platform between terminating tracks
Key move: Hamilton to add this station to its planning docs and RLTP. Designate it.
For Stage 2 build on these upgrades by straighten out the wiggly sections as indicated in Scenario B above, also now add the missing overhead line for max speed of 160kph:
Or better still do realign the track south of Pōkeno as above, but to the north add a new twin track electrified additional alignment under the Bombays and along SH1 to connect at Drury. Do this instead of quad tracking the existing line to Pukekohe. more capacity and shorter (~10km) and faster route. An efficiency improvement for freight too. Run two service patterns: A local on the existing track stopping at all stations linking Drury right through to Hamilton, and an express on the new alignment stoping only at key stations for a really fast travel time. 
Oh how I wish this option was explored when KR designated this section for quad tracking. Time to do it now. Always be planning.
Over time add 3rd and 4th from Drury to Puhinui, and a 4th Puhinui to Westfield. A better way to quad the NMIT Pōkeno-Westfield.
This more direct line is around 128km. So to get to a 60min total journey time would need a 128kph average speed including stops, possible for an express, though 100kph yields a still competitive 88mins, or below 1.5 hours, city centre to city centre. Time competitive with driving, so a really useful complement to the highway system, and the best way to keep the later less clogged and freer flowing into the future. A great choice for many city to city journeys especially when the highway is under pressure, such as during the regular holiday overload or when delayed due to crashes or natural disaster outages.
In conclusion
Auckland-Hamilton passenger rail has value, but an even greater potential, with surprisingly affordable ways to make it a faster and better, really appealing and well used service. The urgent steps from here are to push hard on all possible incremental improvements and plan and designate key step-change moves such as Kirikiriroa Central Station and new electric trains.
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Intercity rail must be the first step in returning nationwide passenger rail to New Zealand. AirNZs fare increases and route cuts signaled for next year are putting domestic air travel out of reach for most NZers. We must help rail step up.
The above seems practicable and well thought through. How can we convince a Transport Minister to spend money on trains when his total focus is cars and motorways and doesn’t “want to spend money on those types of things which frustrate motorists”.
Well this is the great thing about our underused rail network – it is almost entirely out of the way of motorists. More freight, more passengers on the rail network -> a reduction in ‘things that frustrate motorists’.
As with all good investment in alternatives to driving, the key beneficiary are drivers, as the worst thing for drivers is more other drivers. Get more of them onto that steel road that runs along side the highway, and the highway remains faster and freer for longer.
Passenger services like this take a lot of reluctant drivers with often poor vehicles or low confidence off the road. The kind of drivers that thrusting, impatient, super-confident, road gods hate to share the road with so much. The kind of drivers that apparently cause so much dangerous frustration in these types.
100%
“Running from The Strand on an isolated edge of downtown Auckland to Franklin” should be to “Hamilton’s Frankton station”. The train also stops in Hamilton at Rotokauri, near the Base shopping centre. Frankton is a bit isolated, but is a pleasant 10 minute walk into town. The Rotokauri stop is adjacent to stops for the Orbiter bus service, which circles Hamilton, and the Meteor rapid frequency bus service, which runs across Hamilton. Rotokauri may be the logical long-term terminus.
On a recent journey I thought the train was attracting lots of older people and people with children who wouldn’t take the bus. The train was also cheaper than the Intercity Bus. The train seemed to have minimal staffing, which must help keep costs down. Although some people use the train for work, I suspect there is also demand for cheap train travel in NZ, even if the speed is low.
I wonder to what extent the journey times are being kept low by the number of suburban trains in Auckland. 3rd and 4th main lines in Auckland and the ending of track work near Pukekohe might result in substantial reductions in journey times.
I meant journey times are being kept long.
I like the walk into the centre from Frankton, and I’m always keen to try the connections available such as the buses from Rotokauri.
However, I think getting the train into the city centre is important.
– We’ve had to split parties. Eg leaving Hamilton, those who had bikes went to Frankton, as it didn’t look safe getting to Rotokauri while one elderly person took the bus to Rotokauri first, to avoid the rain. (Where there was shelter, but only bare bones. Not a proper waiting room.) Not ideal.
– Connection to the Hamilton Transport Hub is important for onward travel (eg Intercity and council buses). I’ve always walked from Frankton, as the bus from Rotokauri is quite long, and just adds time sitting. A station much closer is ideal.
The Frankton Station and waiting room seems to be closed, at least for Te Huia passengers. Passengers on the Te Huia train are advised there are no toilet facilities open at Frankton. Admittedly the area around the Frankton station is very green, making for a nice quiet platform.
Yeah the lack of toilets was annoying for me vwhen getting there via a couple of other connecting buses once, having forgotten about it. Such a basic amenity to not provide (like drinking water at the Hamilton Transport Hub. Unless that’s been addressed…?).
People filling in time before catching the train from Rotokauri have gone over to the Base to wait, as the station is bleak, but they found it way too noisy.
Both stations can be improved while we wait for the one in the centre, which will be game changing.
Yes, the lack of toilet facilities at Frankton station is an unbelievable oversight . Bring back the old fashioned stations with a comfortable waiting room and all facilities.
You need both, and ideally another station in the east of Hamilton around either Peachgrove Rd or Ruakura. Gives people more options.
Hamilton has around 160,000 people, it’s definitely not a one-station city.
Hamilton’s population is a bit over 190 000.
In an ideal world an inter-city station at Frankton would be just fine because at least one high frequency rail service would run east – west between Frankton and Ruakura. But that is not the world we have.
You’re right, hard to keep up with the population of fast growing cities.
I can’t see Frankton surviving if there was a Central Station. There is likely scope for at least a couple of terminating platforms at a Central Station that would cover this.
In an ideal world a central terminus facing only westward wouldn’t be considered because it would be too ill-suited to inter-city service for Tauranga and short-haul service to Cambridge and Morrinsville. But again, not the world we have.
You can have both terminating and through platforms. What you probably can’t have though is more than one or two through platforms, which is where terminating platforms come in.
There is the matter of the single track tunnel through the CBD and the single track bridge over the river, which can handle only four trains an hour (total, both ways). So a station to the east of town is a big step, because it would drive the trains over and back through that section and probably need double tracking.
My view is start even simpler than digging up the city for a station. Close Bryce st between Seddon and Tristram and build a simple two track terminal station there in an open cut. One end leading straight to the transport centre, less than 500m from Victoria street. Design it to eventually be continued in a tunnel to a new river bridge, but don’t require it.
John – that’s a fair point, although with the frequencies being talked about that might not be an issue.
Also the 4tph seems a bit low, given this is the capacity for the nearly 9km long Kaimai tunnel, the section through the CBD and across the river is much shorter than that.
They managed to run 12tph on the section of single track through Mt Eden during CRL construction, surely 6 – 8tph would be viable on this section.
If there is a central station it would be good to see Te Huia extend at least through to Matamata anyway.
It’s single track all the way between Frankton junction and the junction for the Cambridge branch. About 7km.
4 tph is realistic for running through without stopping. If you built a new station on a passing loop maybe higher would be possible, but certainly not if you are stopping at the old station on the one track.
Having said that, it looks fairly easy to double track some either side and get down to maybe just 1.5km of single track through the tunnel and bridge.
While Te Huia was billed as a “commuter train”, most of the passengers when I used it seemed to be tourists, pensioners and students.
It just shows that when pleasant, comfortable rail services are provided, people use them. You can’t predict latent demand.
More trains mean more connectivity and this is good for society.
The 6.05am service from Hamilton (Frankton and Rotokauri) and the 5.35pm from The Strand between Monday to Friday have workers. Students for Auckland Universty and AUT.
I think as well as the cost people appreciate that the timing is at least consistent. Half the stress of Auckland’s traffic is not the low speed itself, but the huge unknown of whether your trip from x to y will take 30 min or 115 min.
Hamilton’s passenger station is in the suburb of Frankton, not Franklin.
I’m not seeing a major advantage to a Hamilton underground station as against, say, an above ground station in Norris Ward Park about 200m away and something of a rearrangement of Bryce Street to include more space for pedestrians.
100% agree, all necessary and achievable – just needs the political will.
New Zealand needs good passenger rail policy for investment and growth
Crikey look at you with all your book learnin’ and thinking about things in advance. Stop it. What we vote for is common sense – more cars and roads. Was good enough in my day.
(love your work)
Great points, but what can sway this car hungry political mob. While Rotokauri is a good station north of Hamilton, Frankton station is poor. 10 min walk to city centre is good, but when travelling with luggage it’s challenging. I don’t want to take 2 or 3 connecting buses from Frankton. but rather one bus from City transport centre. To people living in south of Hamilton, Rotokauri is simply too far and orbiter takes 30-40 mins.
I understand that Council thinks it is expensive to upgrade Hamilton CBD train station, but am sure a simple switch would get them more passengers (again probably its very complex to simply spruce up old station, but they are running out of time). Looking at Council documents , I suspect their population trajectory is grossly underestimated.
The Hamilton CC is making urban intensification very difficult. At the next mayoral elections a pro-car, pro-extensive suburbia candidate is likely to win. It already has the sort of Council that wants to pave over a large portion of the city gardens to expand free carparking, and is against any sort of new inner city housing. I confidently expect the Council to self-sabotage when it comes to population growth.
Hamilton Central Station on the East Coast Mail Line which is single track and has rail freight traffic so it is not suited as a passenger station for the current Te Huia fleet.
Which is why, if you look carefully, I said and showed on the map (in blue), a new parallel dedicated passenger line to the new station. Always good to separate freight from pax where possible.
It wont happen under the current business model of Kiwirail Holdings Ltd, as the company is a freight and a ‘scenic’ passenger train operator.
Kris you make a great case for restructuring KR. I will write about this when i have the time, it is no longer the right model.
Patrick – Here is some reading material – https://publictransportforum.nz/articles/article/it-is-time-to-reform-rail-in-new-zealand-08-01-2023/
Yes , but that’s a bad excuse. I don’t see freight trains passing all the time. Te Huia can squeeze in enough time to pick up passengers. If planned correctly, they can use Centre place as area for toilets, wait area, while just “going down” to board the train. They have a new development by the corner on Victoria street ,ward street. I guess kiwi rail is just not interested in passenger transport anymore. they should just open it to the world transport operators.
Building another platform is ideal, this would decongest and greatly improve accessibility to wider passengers. Govt should be bold in their approach to public transport.
I feel that Morrinsville and Tauranga should be connected with one service per day atleast for a start. couple this with frequent bus transport from Hamilton Airport ,which goes international next year, they have a platform for connectivity for yrs to come.
Wait Time for me to wake up.
So, some years ago, we spent who knows how much to straighten out the road between Auckland and Hamilton, and make it easier to drive fast.
Surprisingly, we should have thought a little harder about connection a satellite city to a real city, as they have in every other place on the planet, and invested in the making the rail lime more efficient.
Currently we can have heavy trucks outpace Te Huia, and one of the truly beautiful things about the Auckland Metropolitan Train Network, is that even at present, when it is functioning, it is faster than driving, then finding a car park, and all that other waste of time and money associated with driving a car.
If we can convert this to regional rail, obviously Hamilton is the easiest and most logical first expansion of GREATER AUCKLAND, as we become GREATEST AUCKLAND, continuing to be the centre of population growth (as we have been for hundreds of years), despite some of it being in satellite cities like Tauranga, Hamilton and Whangarei.
This ties into the GOLDEN TRIANGLE, which is the high speed train network between Auckland Hamilton and Tauranga, which would create incredible economies of scale. And the also apparently minor necessary upgrades North for passengers could take thousands of cars off our roads.
All we need is some logically thinking engineers, and I know we have no shortage of these. But they must embrace the beauty of our past, with light rail that connected some parts of our lesser city, and the future with heavy rail embracing our satellites that would rather not be JAFAs, but certainly appreciate the BIG SMOKE, particularly as we become considerably less SMOKY!
Kia kaha,
bah humbug
Te Huia usually has out paced the trucks between Huntly and Te Kauwhata as Te Huia travels with speeds between 95 to 100k/ph
A straight, double-track, electrified replacement of the Whangamarino Swamp section of the North Island Main Trunk railway line is arguably the most overdue project in New Zealand’s intercity transport portfolio.
It’s an indictment of KiwiRail’s approach to its assets that there is not a ready-to-roll, detailed design for this scheme. KiwiRail is so obsessed with saving money that it rarely makes plans for what it would do if it HAD money. This means that, when black-swan windfalls like the COVID shovel-ready fun come into play, they can’t just say: “Yes, build this.” NZTA meanwhile has a luandry list of expressways which are designated, designed and simply waiting to be built.
Te Huia is great to have but it is slow. This is entirely fixable with more and better tracks and trains, but it requires all parties to support the principle that it’s better for more people to be able to travel by train to more destinations, more easily, more often.
And yet Kiwirail has a Golden Triangle Electrification Project.
Which would be wonderful if it were funded.
This may sound self indulgent and maybe not in Patrick Reynold’s mind.
Now that I’m retired, the early departure from (Frankton or Rotokauri) is too early for us as i’m mobility challenged. I appreciate the early service is for workers who commute. If we take the later service with its 4 hour transit, awkwardly get ourselves from the strand to the CBD, go to the embassy to do some business with my partner. We’re unable to get back the same day. The cost of overnight accommodation would gobble up a lot of my pension. Not to mention my Partner’s desire to shop in the big city. It’s cheaper to take our car and even pay the $24 fee for parking.
Luckily the improved frequency and extension to Britomart that Patrick proposed in this post would address all of the concerns that you raised about the service!
Dennis Jones – Te Huia travel time is not 4 hours between Hamilton and the Strand. It is currently 2hrs 41 mins due to the speed restrictions on the Auckland metro rail corridor due to track rebuild between Pukekohe and Papakura and following AT Metro Trains between Papakura and Puhinui.
You can leave te Huia at Puhinui and take a AT Metro Southern or Eastern line service to Britomart using AT Hop Gold which is free travel.
Once AT Metro trains start using using Pukekohe from 3 Feb 25, there will be a saving of 15 minutes and once the third main line is opened later 2025, there will be a further saving of 15 mins. Once CRL is opens there will be further time savings.
Then extend it to Tauranga
Yes. And this is a key step towards that.
Good post. We can improve things with so many incremental steps it may be surprising how better it’s got when looking back from the future.
My preference is to concentrate on the hybrid trains also the intermediate stations. Whether the safety police will let a battery or diesel assisted battery powered train into Britomart is yet to be tested. My guess is no. Although many would want to see the swamp line converted to double track we should consider that a single section would be easier and cheaper to electrify. I would see this as a standalone electrified section designed to top up the batteries midway after a train leaves the Auckland or Hamilton electrified areas. I would also envisage hybrid trains sitting at the Strand and Frankton station topping up there batteries from the existing electrified overheads. Passengers are coping with both the Strand and Frankton stations it’s not ideal but let’s do for the easy stuff first before embarking on more grand schemes. My other point would be to design a standard station design which can be dropped into Tuakau, Pokeno and Te Kauwhata and Ngarawhahia. I think Matt. L 0has already suggested this on previous posts. A stop at Pukekohe should be implemented as soon as the station is reopened.
Lastly I would be very interested in Wellington design for battery charging bear in mind that Auckland will be more complex as any hybrid train will require a transformer compared to Wellington low voltage DC system. I imagine that engineering misinformation will reign supreme though it’s a hard to plan anything when there is so much secrecy surrounding any new inferstructure projects.
Interesting stuff Patrick. Inter city rail is a great way to travel. Next year we visit 27 European cities only by train. It will be great to see what is possible, ranging from high speed Spanish trains to regional Italian trains. All our accommodation is within walking distance of the train stations (0.9km). I imagine that such a trip is beyond most kiwis contemplation when we struggle to reach Hamilton.
In the meantime:
* More needs to be done in the meantime to support Intercity services – the current frequencies are awful.
* Connections through to Auckland Airport also need to be thought about. Here a direct coach does have two advantages. First, is journey time – a direct coach could do this journey in ninety minutes door-to-door, versus an hour longer via a train and transferring at Puhinui. Second, that it is direct: I have transferred with rather a lot of luggage at Puhinui to get the connecting Airbus, and it is not that easy, even for someone like me who is able-bodied. I wouldn’t risk it with a lot of luggage or small children (same difference).
The bus from Puhinui to the airport transfers people from the whole rail network. People wanting to go directly door to door can pay for the privilege by taking a shuttle.
It’s better to make some accessibility improvements at Puhinui (let’s hear your suggestions) rather than double up on transport provision just for a few airport passenger who happen to have a lot of luggage.
Agree Heidi. The most obvious solution is to build the third platform to the west, bus station side, for Te Huia on the new 3rd main soon to complete. This would mean direct single level transfers between train and bus, no up and over.
There are now four tacks through the station, but only the island platform serving the middle two of them. Adding a platform would also enable Metros and Intercities to use the station without conflict. I fear KR sees the 3rd as ‘theirs’ for freight only, surely this is not the case though, more dynamic management of the 50% track increase is surely ideal and more than possible especially with ETCS, finally coming to freighters too.
Of course this does mean intercity riders bypassing the fare gate, well just have some poles for tag-on/tag-off.
I do agree about building a platform on the western side of Puhinui Station, for AT Metro services.
What I hear, the 3rd main will most like be used for KR Freight services, The Northern Explorer and NIS AT Metro trains for service repositioning functions.
Once Waikato/Auckland switches over to Motu Move in late 2026 possibly early 2027, the fare gates at Puhinui will be used for both AT Metro and Te Huia passengers.
In reply:
*Heidi*
To clarify – I started my post by saying, “In the meantime” … as I was commenting on the access situation for Hamilton to Auckland Airport as it is right now, not for how Puhinui provides access for the Auckland area to the airport. Out of interest, how much use does that bus service get in a year anyway?
You also asked about improving access. There is the option of building a bridge over the station (at 0:58ff: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSeQIR7gzZM ; am not sure where this now stands as an idea, but it will need to be done anyway.)
First, is it really necessary repeating that there is enough demand for regional trains between Auckland and Hamilton? Just look South, a rural area like Wairarapa has enough demand for regional trains.
Living now in Austria, which has after Switzerland the highest train usage in Europe, I would argue frequency and punctuality matter a lot more than speed. But what makes a big difference is the so-called Taktfahrplan (German word of the day!).
A good start would be running a train every two hours between Hamilton and Auckland, Monday to Sunday. Easy to remember, no time table needed. A train every two hours would also allow to implement a good bus services to all train stations along the line, even if stations are not in a perfect location. Let’s face it, this is not possible with the current time tables of Te Huia and Northern Explorer, which are a mess. Of course an hourly train would be better!
And if you hop on the next train coming it should not break your bank account if it happens to be a Northern Explorer and not a Te Huia!
Why not spend the same amount of money for trains as for the gold plated RoNS? Just for comparison Austria has budgeted 21.1 billion € in train infrastructure the next five years. A lot goes into three big tunnel projects (Koralm, Semmering base, Brenner base tunnel).
Why is Auckland to Tauranga not already electrified? This would allow electric freight and passenger trains moving between a triangle Auckland, Tauranga and Palmerston North. Running more passenger trains during the day means freight trains run at night. But diesel trains are loud so electrification is needed and so is double glazing on houses next to train lines. And the same problem as in Auckland, if more and faster trains are running between Auckland and Hamilton there should be no level crossings on the way.
Greetings from Graz
The issue is, the national rail infrastructure network is a ‘closed access’ network, owned by a ‘for profit’ state own company – Kiwirail Holdings Ltd (KHL) which is also a train and ferry operator.
KHL has made it clear in their New Zealand Rail Plan, they are a rail infrastructure, freight and ‘scenic’ passenger rail and ferry operator only and is not interested in operating urban, regional and/or inter-regional passenger trains other than the Capital Connection service, which KHL wants Greater Wellington Region and Horizon Regional councils to own and operate.
Te Huia which is funded and operated by Waikato Regional Council, is KHL vision of regional/inter-regional passenger rail if a regional council can afford it.
Klash, NZ and Austria are about as chalk and cheese you can get. About the only thing the two nations have in common are beautiful mountains and lakes.
Austria is smack bang in the middle of the strongest economic block in the world while NZ is an island with a government that couldn’t even find it’s way to a brewery, let alone organise a piss up in one.
Most of what is written in the above post is part of the Waikato Passenger Rail Initiative, with incorporates regional and inter-regional passenger rail services due to Hamilton being a major rail hub for northern, eastern and southern freight/passenger rail services.
a. Regional passenger rail services
This will be a 2 line regional passenger rail network being:
Line 1 – between Pukekohe, Hamilton (Rotokauri and Frankton) and Te Kuiti.
Line 2 – between Pukekohe, Hamilton (Rotokauri and Frankton) and Tokoroa with connecting bus services between Tokoroa and Taupo.
b. Inter-regional passenger rail services
– Between The Strand or Britomart to Hamilton and Tauranga using Puhinui, Papakura, Pukekohe and all stations between Pukekohe and Tauranga
– Between The Strand or Britomart to Hamilton and Rotorua using Puhinui, Papakura, Pukekohe and all stations between Pukekohe and Rotorua.
– Between Tauranga, Matamata and Rotorua and all stations between Tauranga and Rotorua.
– Between Hamilton and Palmerston North and all stations between Hamilton and Palmerston North
Rolling stock would be 3-5 carriage, bi-directional, electric (25kva)/battery train sets.
These train sets will be based on the final specifications of the new train sets being ordered to operate between Masterton, Wellington and Palmerston North
Hamilton would have the main heavy maintenance/stabling/crew base with overnight maintenance/stabling and crew bases at Mercer, Te Kuiti, Putaruru, Palmerston North, Tauranga and Rotorua.
Thought there was indication of a Ngaruawahia-Hamilton Central-Cambridge and Te Awamutu-Hamilton-Morrinsville commuter network + potential spur to the airport back in 2019 as well?
The cost of rebuilding the Cambridge branch line will be expensive to rebuild due to 13 controlled level crossings required for the amount of trains using the line.
With regards to Hamilton Airport, there are concept plans for an multi use freight terminal near the Hamilton airport that includes rail access to/from the North Island Main Trunk line.
There is no ‘Y’ junction function at Frankton station for Te Awamutu-Hamilton-Morrinsville services. Passenger traveling from Te Awamutu traveling to Morrinsville would need to transfer at Frankton to a Line 2 service to Tokoroa or a inter-regional train services from Frankton to either Tauranga or Rotorua.
Completing the Y at Frankton (plus station redevelopment and grade-separated road access) doesn’t seem like it would be any more expensive than refurbishing the Cambridge branch (and reextending it into Cambridge proper)?
But from what you’re saying – I presume the regional rail services would be intended to provide suburban-level frequencies within the Hamilton metro area, so a dedicated suburban rail service(s) wouldn’t be as necessary?
Burrower – There is no land around Frankton station for a ‘Y’ junction, as the station is surrounded by intensive urban/industrial development plus the station is close to the entrance to the underground section of the East Coast Main Trunk line.
The various concept timetables that has been developed, depending on the day of the week there would be 20-30 regional and inter-regional services passing through Hamilton’s two main stations Frankton and Rotokauri.
By the way, there will be regular bus services between Frankton station and the Transport Centre.
Kris – satellite imagery shows a grassy reserve between the ECMT and the southbound NIMT at Frankton that looks like it could fit a rail curve of the same radii as the current northern link? only major obstacles I can see are the Fraser St access to Frankton Station – that could very well be grade-separated with moderate works that a station revamp would probably necessitate – and the southern end of the station platform which could be shortened given the platform is 350m long north-to-south?
I wouldn’t call nearly 1km from station to tunnel portal ‘close’ – the CRL stations are going to be closer together. A new platform for the southern Y link, presuming a similar length to the existent northern link platform, doesn’t seem like it would interfere with the junction or the gradient leading to the tunnel
30 trains per day i presume equates to half-hourly frequencies Rotokauri-Frankton-Ruakura? that would probably be acceptable assuming frequent bus routes handling closer-stop-spacing parallel routes
Burrower – Since I use Frankton Station regularly for Te Huia, I am not sure having a curve section of track connecting the MIMT with ECMT on the south eastern side of the station is technically feasible, as the entrance to the underground section of ECMT is 400-500 mtrs from the end of platform 2. A foot bridge would be required to cater for passengers accessing the station plus it will reduce local, replacement and tour bus parking and drop off/pick car and on demand riding sharing spaces, for Line 1 and 2 regional, Tauranga, Rotoura, Palmerston North inter-regional services, the daily long distance ‘Inter-city’ Auckland and Wellington and the Northern Explorer ‘scenic’ tourism rail (if Kiwirail is still operating it by then) services.
Frankton Station and its surrounds is currently owned by NZ Railways Corporation through Kiwirail and any redevelopment of the station would most likely be funded by Hamilton City Council unless the law is change.
With regards to your ’30 trains per day i presume equates to half-hourly frequencies Rotokauri-Frankton-Ruakura? ‘ comment, it is included in the proposed total frequencies, as those stations are part of Line 2 Pukekohe to Tokoroa services.
Would love to see this advanced Patrick. Practical, incremental improvements that offer significant benefits to a wide range of current and potential users.