This is a guest post by Darren Davis. It originally appeared on his excellent blog, Adventures in Transitland, which we encourage you to check out. It is shared by kind permission.
And is even more relevant as we are reminded by events just how important more travel options between cities beyond flying and driving really are.
Latest developments
There have been three recent developments of note:
- Te Huia Trial Extension. The New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi board agreed at its meeting on 19th February 2026 to a one-year extension of its trial to 30th June 2027 at its current national share funding assistance rate of 60 per cent.
- Waikato endorsement. Waikato Regional Council at its meeting on 25th February 2026 agreed to this extension, meaning that full engagement on the future of Te Huia will occur as part of the council’s 2027-2037 Long Term Plan process.
- Rolling stock business case. In addition, the Waikato Regional Council’s budget includes $550,000 for a business case to investigate options for the replacement of rolling stock for Te Huia. The current rolling stock are twice refurbished 1970s ex-British Rail mark 2 carriages near the end of their expected life. Some councillors expressed concern over the spend when the future of Te Huia beyond the end of the trial in June 2027 is uncertain. Further options around the business case will be considered by Waikato Regional Council prior to the budget being finalised.
Te Huia early morning at Hamilton Frankton Station. Image credit: Darren Davis
What does this mean in practice?
These decisions give Te Huia a small window of opportunity to grow patronage. As the Waikako Regional Council stated in its media release:
Waikato Regional Council Chair Warren Maher said the extension of the service would give Te Huia time to prove its success.
“While the service is generally tracking well against its performance measures, councillors agree that it’s critically important for Te Huia passenger numbers to grow. We need to see more bums on seats.” (my emphasis)
Waikato Regional Council elected members are also keen to increase Te Huia fare revenue for the final year of the trial through a combination of increased patronage and higher ticket prices. A report on fare pricing is due to be presented to council before the final Annual Plan budget is approved. Of course, as any economics 101 student will tell you, the interaction between supply and demand curves means that any increase in price will lead to a decrease in demand, a principle that we seem to fail to understand also applies to roads.
The pressure is to increase fare revenue is because the difference between fare revenue and operating costs is split between Waikato Regional Council and Waka Kotahi New Zealand transport agency. The local share funded by Waikato Regional Council will increase if Te Huia becomes permanent.
- Current split: Waikato Regional Council – 40%; Waka Kotahi NZTA – 60%
- Future split: Waikato Regional Council – 49%; Waka Kotahi NZTA – 51%
Hence, the Waikato politicians focus on increasing fare revenue.
Te Huia’s patronage growth has stalled, largely as a result of the impact of frequent Auckland rail network closures for its Rail Network Rebuild and City Rail Link works as well as some impact from fare increases. And the disruptions are not yet over. While City Rail Link is scheduled to open in the second half of 2026, there are still quite a number of network disruptions to come over the next five months. These are:
- Easter Weekend – Four day closure – Friday 3rd April to Monday 6th April 2026
- April – three day closure – Saturday 25th April to Monday 27th April 2026
- King’s Birthday – three day closure – Saturday 30th May to Monday 1st June 2026
- Matariki weekend – three day closure – Friday 10th July to Sunday 12th July 2026
The good news is that KiwiRail has promised that, after numerous years of lengthy Christmas New Year rail network shutdowns, that full network shutdowns will no longer be required once Auckland’s City Rail Link opens in the second half of 2026.
Why is the window of opportunity so narrow?
Put simply, because the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi review process will kick off in earnest before the end of 2026 and decisions on whether or not Te Huia is to become a permanent service will be made by April 2027. And City Rail Link is only due to open sometime in the second half of 2026.
This is important because the City Rail Link means two things:
- An end to lengthy and hugely disruptive shutdowns of the Auckland rail network
- And City Rail Link itself, as Aotearoa’s first underground metro-style railway, will be a big incentive in of itself to visit Auckland
My crystal ball is a bit hazy at present but there is often an interesting confluence between election dates and major openings of infrastructure. The national election is scheduled for Saturday 7th November 2026. So I’m leaning towards a September 2026 opening date for City Rail Link. But that, of course, is dependent on the successful completion of the numerous testing and commissioning activities as well as stable operation of full simulations of the City Rail Link day one timetable.
And Waka Kotahi/ NZTA will be keen to see a stable higher business as usual patronage base for Te Huia once the initial sugar hit of City Rail Link induced journeys has settled down.
How to get bums on seats?
There is some good news here. Auckland’s hugely disruptive rail network rebuild came to an end in January 2026 and this year’s shutdowns are by-and-large the usual public holiday long weekends shutdowns during which Te Huia has never operated anyway. But of course, the Labour Weekend long weekend, Saturday 24th to Monday 26th October 2026 will be two weeks out from the national election and when, fingers crossed, City Rail Link will be operational. It will be interesting to see if Te Huia operates over Labour Weekend. As a leisure oriented service, not running on public holiday weekends and over the Christmas New Year break has been a significant barrier to growth. Reliability, such as a service actually operating stably and reliably every day of the year, including public holiday long weekends and over the Christmas New Year break, is the indispensable pre-requisite for building this stable and growing market of loyal customers.
So here’s hoping Auckland breaks with tradition and actually has an operational rail network over the Christmas New Year break. And maybe even some extended train service to get people home after New Year’s celebrations in the city centre. That way, with the Auckland rail network open and (hopefully) Te Huia operating over the holiday break, Aucklanders would have one congestion-free way of getting out of the city rather than the usual summer queues on the Southern Motorway.
A note of caution
But a note of caution is worthwhile here. A lot of expectation has been piled on Te Huia to achieve both significant increases in patronage and increased farebox revenue in a short space of time. No such expectations are placed on new roads when they open, where uncongested journeys on an empty road is seen as a sign of success, not failure. Te Huia has established a solid core of loyal users in spite of all of the challenges put in its path – from pandemics to enforced shutdowns and a whole pile besides. This in itself is a sign of success, not failure.
The time between when hugely disruptive Auckland rail network shutdowns become a distant past nightmare; when City Rail Link opens and when decisions on Te Huia’s potential future as a permanent service are made is vanishingly thin.
And as I noted above, any increase in fares will have some negative impact on patronage. But exactly how much of an impact is an inexact science. For example, Ōtautahi/ Christchurch’s population increased by one per cent in 2025, adult fare increased by 50% from $2 to $3 while patronage went down by less than one per cent. While this is a modest drop, price sensitive customer segments are likely to experience more significant declines in patronage in response to fare increases. My personal observations on board Te Huia is that many customers only top up their Bee Cards by the exact amount of the Bee Card fare. Which is some indication that money is too tight to mention.
Final thoughts
While great that Te Huia will now run until at least mid-2027, the spotlight is firmly on it to build patronage. At the same time, we are still a few months away from Auckland’s City Rail Link opening with the usual public holiday service shutdowns in the meantime. But the decision about Te Huia is likely to come down to how its patronage tracks against its business case and key performance indicators. So if you want to see Te Huia continue, I suggest that you ride, baby, ride!
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Is it possible if Auckland Council is able to contribute a tiny percentage (10%) to establish it as a permanent service? Matt L alluded to inserting this as part of the Southern Express service to get around the timetable complexity.
Wayne Brown has said not in paying at $353,000 subsidy for Te Huia, as he see if does not have any ‘economic value’ to Auckland, despite Jetstar is not operating international services between Sydney, Gold Coast and Hamilton and daily non-stop domestic service between Hamilton and Christchurch.
Around 20% of users are Aucklanders, and of course the service brings people into the heart of the Auckland economy. AKL should contribute 20%.
Patrick Reynolds – You need to tell Wayne Brown that.
Perhaps its time to increase the cost to Aucklanders? If their city does not want to pay for the service, then it should stump up the commercial rate.
But it seems a bit of a shame that they just don’t commit to a longer term solution. One wonders if they could tack a few more cars onto the order for the Palmerston North and Masterton services for Te Huia.
I think this would be very wise for Auckland to help keep the service ( I usually switch to Auckland trains at pukekohe) as I have found the service great for a week or weekend trip to Auckland, quite capable to drive my car but cheaper and lovely to go on train if you add central Auckland parking to your petrol bill. Once I did a week at waiheke, day trips Auckland art gallery etc and looking at a weekend trip soon with hubby. All means I am spending money whilst in Auckland yet before te huia wasn’t really a destination I wanted to go.
Thanks Darren. I’m just mulling on what *should* be next.
Applying an up-to-date cost for the full social and environmental cost of carbon would multiply the cost of flight ticket costs several times over.
So, if you consider the annual revenue each airline receives, some multiple of that figure should be being paid to governments to help them invest in low carbon infrastructure.
Such as: increasing properly in Te Huia, and rail to Tauranga. And bringing all the existing (and some of the mothballed) rail lines up to spec for both freight and passenger trains. And increasing in a network is buses to coordinate with those trains.
Too expensive? Not when you look at what “some multiple” of the airline’s revenue looks like. Air NZ’s annual revenue from ticket sales, according to Wikipedia, was $5.9 billion last year.
Clearly, adding flight taxes to cover the cost of carbon would reduce demand significantly (yay for the climate!), so, sure, there’d be a new balance point reached… But there’s still be funding available to invest in a proper system; one that does give people real ability to travel without worsening the future.
It’s time to stop swallowing the “can’t do” excuses.
Sorry for swipos. Should read:
“And investing in a network of buses to coordinate with those trains.”
And quite a few of those internal flights are not even paying GST as they link into international ones and so are exempt.
Oh, for a second there I though trial extension meant they were going to trial and extension to Tauranga, not merely extend the trial.
“How to get bums on seats?”
If $4/litre doesn’t cause a spike in usage nothing will…
It will be very interesting to see what the ridership does, and how elastic the demand is…
Except $4/litre doesn’t level the field for the different modes. Neither in terms of paying for externalities. Nor in terms of connectivity door to door. We need much more investment before “the market” would demonstrate what’s possible.
You’re letting perfect be the enemy of the good,
If they can’t show a jump in patronage during times of high oil prices, then its over,
Neither the Waikato regional council nor NZTA will keep funding it…
You need the rest of your public transport network to work.
And then you arrive somewhere near Hamilton without a car. Then what? Just for lolz I looked up how to get to Hamilton Gardens. That is 4 km as the crow flies from Hamilton Frankton station, but that distance will take an additional HOUR to cover by public transport. A bit of a working point for whoever runs those buses.
Roeland – Bus route 17 Gardens from the Hamilton Transport Centre with a travel time of 22 minutes. Can use BeeCard on that route.
That bus is really not great though. 60 mins between buses, and so on. Plus limited times.
Roeland’s talking about travelling from Auckland though, Kris, so coming from the Frankton Station…
I’ve done it. Or rather, I arrived from Rotoroa by Intercity, bussed to the Gardens, then back to Frankton to catch Te Huia home.
Doable but certainly not intuitive or easy. And a lot of the time we could have spent at the Gardens was taken up with making sure we were at each bus stop with plenty of time.
So odd that central government spends hundreds of millions for regional rail on Wellington but we can’t buy some BEMUs so that we can run services from inside actual Britomart to Hamilton and then Tauranga/Rotovegas in the relatively small part of the country that has half the country’s population ffs
Battery/Electric passenger train sets based on the production specifications, modify for 25Kva power source of Metlink’s new ‘Tuhono’ train sets, is being considered to operate on the Golden Triangle Passenger rail network between Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Tokoroa, Rotorua and between Hamilton and Palmerston North from 2035. Alstom currently production has production slots available which is part of ‘Tuhono’ order.
Sure, but you can run battery electric Auckland to Hamilton because the gap is 80km, but can you then run them on to Tauranga as that’s 100km? And you dont want toa 20 minute charging stop in Hamilton? Needs more electrification to get past Hamilton surely
I think the plan is they would electrify some of the section around Hamilton so a long station stop wasn’t required.
Running into Britomart and also have an early am service departing Auckland to Hamilton would be a game changer I think.
In a conversation I was recently having over the current fuel crisis, it was brought up to me that EVs don’t have the endurance for long trips without lengthy recharge sessions at around the halfway point. And that’s why regional rail like Te Huia is now a critical resource that needs to be invested in. The rest of the MTL line needs to be electrified ASAP. If we can move people off the roads and onto the trains, it’ll save vital fuel. We cannot ignore the lessons the current crisis are waving in our faces. We need more trains like Te Huia, and we need them sooner rather than later.
The 1970s oil crises were the motivator for partial electrification of the NIMT, let’s not let this crisis pass without electrifying the rest.
I mean, I’m pretty sure pretty much every EV from the last decade could handle the ~260km round trip no problem. That said, we still need our interregional trains brought back.
I’m doing nothing of the kind. I agree with encouraging people to use Te Huia in order to try to secure more permanent funding.
But no-one should be indulging the climate-denying neoliberals in repeating their myths. If $4/litre doesn’t increase patronage, there are multiple reasons why!
We need to state the truth: NZ can’t afford to continue down the car dependent pathway. We need to invest in Te Huia and other rail lines for years before there’d be any expectation of high ridership.
There are simply so many other demands that should be being made of the polluting and life-harming modes. They should be required to prove how they can be part of a liveable world.
Supposed to be a reply to Greenwelly.
Te Huia is still spendy compared with the vehicles i have to hand. One way from Auckland (strand) to Hamilton (Frankton)
Te Huia train (Cash) Cash fare $40.00
Te Huia train (Bee Card) Bee Card fare $24.06
Electric Vehicle (EV) Electricity: (125 km ÷ 12 km/kWh) × $0.30 = $3.13
RUC: 125 km × ($70 / 1000 km) = $8.75 $12.19
Non‑plug‑in Hybrid (Petrol) Fuel: (125 km ÷ 20 km/L) × $2.80/L = $17.50
Diesel Vehicle Fuel: (125 km ÷ 10 km/L) × $3.00/L = $37.50
RUC: 125 km × ($70 / 1000 km) = $8.75 $46.25
Even more so when taking friends and family down for the day.
Strand to Frankton – most folks need to look up at least one of those locations, and Frankton while quaint is not well set up for Hamilton Gardens etc.
I fully support Te Huia and what it might grow into, but while its significantly more expensive than road travel, its value is limited to me at least.
Hamilton Airport by train would be a winner.
Each time one decides to travel by train, they are doing so on the basis of making things (the system) better for everyone else.
Each time one decides to travel by car they are doing so on the basis of making things worse for everyone else.
Does every dollar really matter? Do you apply this Economic Man thinking to every other aspect of your life?
If that is true, how come all those Labour and Green supporters who believe there’s a climate emergency are not flocking to use it?
Truth is, they realise it’s more practical to use a car in most cases.
You’re making a strawman at this point. I do use the train every time I need to go to Auckland. What now?
You’re right in that I do wonder why people who care and who understand the science aren’t applying that more to their everyday choices, yes.
I hadn’t ascribed caring and understanding to only Labour and Green voters though. You’ve given me some food for thought. I don’t think you’re right on that, but perhaps it’s a valid generalisation.
Te Huia at can never meet MOST cases of transport need.
This is not a reason as to why it should be discounted.
It is just as the Northern Busway cannot meet most cases of transport need across the harbour bridge.
The best it can aim for is, like the Northern Busway, is to continue to increase the numbers that it DOES meet their transport needs.
And in doing so reduce the stresses on maintaining or increasing, capacity for car transport. In the Northern Busway’s case, spectacularly.
One thing that is perhaps even more critical to people than money, is time. You absolutely cannot have more than 24h per day no matter how rich you are. And that put really hard limits on public transport use. A mode of transport that takes 4 to 5 hours to reach a meaningful destination in Hamilton is inherently niche.
What about approximately 35% of the population for various reasons do not own, drive and/or have a drivers licence.
Since Te Huia feeds into local Hamilton city and Waikato regional bus ‘tap’ and travel bus services that operate south to Taupo and Turangi, north east op Matamata and Paeroa and south west to Te Awamutu, needs to factor in increase ridership once Motu Move – the national contactless ‘tap & travel’ payment system if available nationally from mid to late 2028.
You forgot other running costs. IRD Tier 1 rates give us a good estimate: That’s $1.17 for petrol/km, $1.26 for diesel, 86 cents for hybrids, and $1.08 for EVs.
Ranging from $115.24-168.84
Not to mention you can work or relax on the train.
It’s an absolute bargain!
And don’t forget the medical costs of recovering from driving (stress and pollution, even if you avoid an injury) on the southern motorway at those times.
Government seems to see the point of electric rail in and out of Wellington. How come not Auckland?
The difference is by historical accident, and a big hill, the Wellington Masterton service was retained from the old provincial rail days.
And because it worked, and then much later, electrification to firstly Paraparaumu, then onto Waikanae worked, there was pressure to extend train services to Otaki and Levin. And as there was no train stabling facilities at Levin, Palmerston North became the terminus.
Hamiltonites just did not agitate enough.
Auckland has only just achieved a functional suburban rail system. Thus in this part of the world there was not the train commuting culture to build on.
Why is the cash fare so much extra? Surely it doesn’t cost them $16 more to handle the cash? Seems like a ripoff.
JimboJones – Te Huia is funded as ‘public transport’ style of inter-regional passenger train service, being the first in New Zealand.
Since Waitako is one of the 10 regional council’s to using BeeCard, so it is used on Te Huia.
Nobody buys a cash fare on Te Huia, as BeeCards are sold onboard the train.
guh honestly i’d love for some wishlist things to be kinda finally at least considered more in the future, with investment.
double-track the part from Frankton to K-Mart, — there IS space for doubletracking — replace Lake Rd and Seddon Rd bridges so they have a wider span – build a platform at Bryce St. so then there’s no need to go to Frankton. that section should be able to accommodate approx 5 carriages?
add a junction from north island main trunk to Hamilton airport.
restore the branch to Cambridge.
weh.
will never happen i guess as long as government borrow money for landlord tax cuts.
The cost of driving a car is well under $1 per km if you’re willing to drive second hand cars. New Zealand is an *exceptionally* cheap place to own a car.
But yes train beats car when it comes to comfort. Especially with kids, but then again travelling by train with multiple people is really expensive.
Aint this the hard truth. I love cycling and PT and haven’t owned a car myself for about 10 years, but if I’m doing a short trip to Akl with my wife and son we are taking her little Honda. In train fares alone (assuming the train is actually going – we tend to visit Auckland during long weekends) you would be looking at ~$140 return before thinking about the minor trips at each end. On the other hand, I like taking the train if staying in Auckland for a while, visiting the CBD during peak times, or am going solo.
The fact we are trying to join two vastly car dependent cities makes this a challenging route in terms of viability, and honestly I don’t know what the answer is. Can tu huia be made cheaper to operate (ie with electrified lines)? Is there currently a large, unaddressed market or user base? Can the cost be spread more thinly and widely across local and central govt departments so it doesn’t stick out as a budget item to cut?
Te Huia will naturally get more patronage as both cities grow. This is because the Waikato Expressway will gradually get more and more congested at peak, while on both ends PT/people living near/active mode connections etc. will improve – which makes it for more people their perceived best option.
The issue with it’s funding imo is that Auckland isn’t paying its share of it, which means the timetable is not aimed at helping Aucklanders get to the Tron, which means Waikato doesn’t get the benefits it should be getting from it.
Yes, Auckland should be paying some of this.
On the few times I have travelled off peak from Auckland many of the passengers were pensioners coming down to the Base, having lunch there and heading back on the afternoon train. Their use of the Bee card creates a discrepancy between passenger numbers and income generated.
That was a great read and very informative. Thanks.
“And City Rail Link itself, as Aotearoa’s first underground metro-style railway, will be a big incentive in of itself to visit Auckland” I’m sorry, but I don’t think any significant number of people are going to visit Auckland just for the CRL.
That stood out to me, too. It is hardly a Stockholm type of metro and I doubt even that draws a significant number of visitors.
While incredibly useful, travelling via underground rail is a pretty unpleasant experience for (most) people.
That’s not to say that they don’t enhance the cities in which they’re built – they do, but this is a function of how they knit a City closer together.
Post CRL – they should terminate @Mt Eden instead of the Strand, as there will be spare platforms there and it has much better connections. I don’t think this one matters too much though, as eventually they’ll close the electrification gap and it’ll be able to terminate @Britomart.
Auckland should pay 25%, WRC 24%, NZTA 51% – and in return, frequency should be roughly equal in both directions rather than the current timetable aimed at bringing people from Waikato to Auckland in the morning and then back home in the evening. Roughly just copy pasting the existing timetable and reversing it (so a train would depart the Tron @6pm, and Auckland @6pm), but it’d need to be rejigged slightly due to other train traffic.
In Auckland, Te Huia would act as the express trains from the south, allowing https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/CRL-Map-JC.png to be the operating pattern for AT Metro trains – then as track improvements/electrification/budget allowed, frequency for metro, interregional and freight trains could all increase.
This is a solid idea – balancing the interests of daily commuters against the ‘one off’ commuters who may be heading in to Auckland to attend an event (for example a Rugby game or concert at Eden Park).
Its easy to imagine a Te Huia rake packed with visiting Mooloo supporters pulling into Mount Eden Station and then spilling out into local bars and restaurants prior to a big match.
I’m a bit of a Mt. Eden NIMBY, but even I smile at the thought of Helen Clarke gritting her teeth against the clanging of cow bells echoing throughout the Valley.
Freddy – Post CRL, Te Huia will still terminate at The Strand.
It is planned from August 2026, Te Huia and the Northern Explorer will be pulled by four modified ETCS 1 enabled ‘DL’ locomotives which have been modified with increased speed to 100kph, as the current ‘DFB’ Locomotives are not going to be converted for ETCS 1 operations and will be phased out due to their age,
The planned route of Te Huia on the Auckland metro rail corridor from August, will be from Pukekohe, Puhinui, The Strand, Newmarket, Puhinui and Pukekohe. There is still some debate, about making Newmarket an official Te Huia as a pick up ‘stop’ for S-C line services as you know, Newmarket has 3 platforms.
Newmarket is tremendously easier to get to and from than is Strand.
Te Huia should terminate at Maungawhau at the NAL platforms.
$550,000 for a business case to review replacement rolling stock?! I don’t know the equipment well, but this seems steep for a something that an industry insider would have a good feel for and could firm up options for less?
That’s a lot of money that could improve the service in a number of ways! Or go towards the rolling stock itself.
As an octogenarian, the Strand significantly limits the appeal of Te Huia. I do join the AT network when needing to get directly to Britomart.
I hope that the sub optimal design of the Te Huia service has been factored into the business case when decision time arrives.
A hybrid regional express seems glaringly obvious.
With the huge growth happening in Pokeno, surely a stop in Pokeno is in the cards?
Can we get some stations befitting of a Hamilton-Auckland service: Tuakau, Pokeno and Te Kauwhata. There would be bums on seats if they stopped for them.
Chris – Tuakau, Pokeno and Te Kauwhata are planned and are subject to funding from New Zealand Transport Agency, Waikato Regional and Waikato District councils.
The first job is to get ridership up with increased frequency especially from Huntly and Pukekohe, as these stations are still untapped markets.
Over 65s should pay $20 return (eg). Train, ferry to Waiheke, bus around, train return – free thanks to Winston but Te Huia would be helped to continue with a charge for many of the users.
Te Huia still gets funding from the government to cover Gold Card travel so it would probably be a negative for Te Huia if these people had to pay as less would likely travel.
Jezza – The SuperGold card is becoming an issue with Te Huia, as you know, BeeCard is used by 9 other public transport operating regions and Waikato based SuperGold card holders who are subsiding Te Huia through their Hamilton city, District and Waikato regional rates are not happy subsiding SuperGold card holders who live outside the Waikato region, hence the call for 50% discount on standard BeeCard one way fares, bring it inline with the Senior fare on the Capital Connection train.
I’m not sure discouraging Super Gold card holders from Te Huia is beneficial for Waikato ratepayers. Their fares are covered by central government so that source of revenue would be lost, which would make Te Huia less viable.
Exactly. And last time I looked they were in the Waikato region so surely it’s in WRC’s interest to suck up the passengers from those points.
Can’t agree more. Simple stations in each of those growing towns will do, but apparently the rules don’t allow that any more…
While they’re at it, the Waikato Regional Council needs to rethink the route Te Huia runs.
If Auckland Council won’t contribute to running costs, then just run Te Huia between Hamilton and Pukekohe.
This has the massive benefit of roughly doubling the service frequency, making Te Huia far more useful.
Yes, passengers will need to change trains and have a Hop card as well, but it just makes sense to me… Should be a good way to build ridership and support for the long overdue BEMU order and electrification of the Main Trunk and ECMT to Tauranga 🙂
Glen – Te Huia will loose ridership if the train only operates between Hamilton and Pukekohe,
Most riders have indicated they want Hamilton to Puhinui and The Strand.
In reply to Kris.
But could then using the rolling stock for extra return trips Hamilton to Pukekohe a day actually generate more total Te Huia passengers a day? More flexibility traded for a less comfortable journey from Pukekohe into the city?
With so many imperfect factors to juggle, this does seem like a good idea. Better frequency would make an enormous difference.
DonR – Survey’s of Te Huia passengers want the train to terminate at The Strand. Puhinui as the largest number of de-boardings and boardings of the 3 Auckland stations.
When Te Huia initially operated between Hamilton and Papakura. after the initial 3 months of service, passenger numbers declined hence the decision to terminate Te Huia at The Strand.
The push for Te Huia to terminate at Pukekohe is coming from Auckland Te Huia naysayers not from Waikato.
In preparation of CRL operations, plans are being finalised for Te Huia and the Northern Explorer trains to be hauled by 4 modified ETCS 1 enabled, higher speed ‘DL’ Class locomotives which means Te Huia will not operate in its current ‘push/pull’ operation, meaning it will not possible to change driving ends without disrupting Auckland metro train services at Pukekohe.
Agree with Kris on this one, there was a notable increase in Te Huia patronage when it was extended to The Strand.
Te Huia has a train set that could do an additional return journey on Thursdays and Fridays and two additional return journeys on other days.
But we don’t know how ridership would change if both things happened: the train terminated at Pukekohe, AND the frequency increased in kind. Nearly doubling, as Glen suggests, would be massive. Is it realistic?
I see it a bit like AT’s New Network. Frequency is key. And in the case of Te Huia, span. If that’s the right term.
One thing people can do is make their way to Pukekohe on AT’s services. And they’d bother to learn to do so, if the frequency of Te Huia still made it attractive.
What people can’t do is take services that don’t exist because the timetable is too thin.
Clearly it should go all the way to Waitemata. But, maybe this is a better solution with the limited funding.
Puhinui is the most patronised Te Huia station in Auckland, and under the proposed network it will have direct rail services to every rail station on the network bar Te Papa and Onehunga,
Would terminating the service here allow the existing two? train sets provide increased frequency between here and Hamilton?
This option would of course require provision at Puhinui for terminating the train and for the the yet to be commisioned DL locomotives to run around the train for the return trip. All without disrupting other services. Feasible?
It’s a good question.
They need to fix where the tag off machines are, though. It’s silly having to rush upstairs to tag on or off between trains.
Heidi, there is a special Te Huia tag post that they cover up on the platform and are meant to uncover just before it comes in or if you ask, kind of awkward if you get there early etc and we not see it at first. The staff might be distracted and not uncover it I wonder sometimes.
Bring on the national ticketing system as it is kind of confusing, seen that flow chart saying what to do for if you arrive at the station by all the different modes possible?
Oh thanks for that, Grant! I asked, and was told to go upstairs…
No, I haven’t seen the flow chart. I will look it out. I’m glad someone’s on the case.
Seems like this tag post is the small contribution Auckland has made to this service! Well apart from allowing the service to mix with our metro one and AT website information etc about it.
Re Gold Card free travel. Along with numerous other over 65’s I really enjoy traveling on Te Huia for a day or more to Auckland. Many of us could afford $20 return (for example). We should not free-load. Our dollars would likely help the service continue. Groups of superannuiants make a free day out: train to AK, ferry to Waiheke, bus around Waiheke, and train home. Food their only purchase. Thanks Winston, but we would rather help keep Te Huia rolling.
There’s no requirement to use a Gold Card for any of your travel.
Robert – The Goldcard is loaded onto a BeeCard and after 2028 will be on a Motu Move card.
That’s like saying we can pay more tax voluntarily. Jane’s suggestion is clearly about the fare structure. And it’s a fair point.
Over 65s should pay $20 return (eg). Train, ferry to Waiheke, bus around, train return – free thanks to Winston but Te Huia would be helped to continue with a charge for many of the users.
guh honestly i’d love for some wishlist things to be kinda finally at least considered more in the future, with investment.
double-track the part from Frankton to K-Mart, — there IS space for doubletracking — replace Lake Rd and Seddon Rd bridges so they have a wider span – build a platform at Bryce St. so then there’s no need to go to Frankton. that section should be able to accommodate approx 5 carriages?
add a junction from north island main trunk to Hamilton airport.
restore the branch to Cambridge.
weh.
will never happen i guess as long as government borrow money for landlord tax cuts.
Really wanted to take the train up.from Hamilton to auckland last Friday, and come back Sunday.. Didnt however as the train runs only once on a Sunday evening at 6.15pm So instead of getting 3 passengers we took the car. As waiting from.checkoitvat 11am until 6.15 pm.for the one train a day! Pointless
It must have been a typo so you didn’t express outrage. More than half a million dollars for a business case? Sorry, if that is true it is obscene.
It would help your story if you would say how many people are finding the service of value, how much they are paying, and how many more derrières you’d like to see on those seats.
Seems a lot. Let me find some replacement trains for them and I’ll only charge $50k for my services. Heck anything electric hybrid that runs on 25 kV would do the trick wouldn’t it? Just needs a toilets, cafe, bike etc storage & area for mobility users.
Surely they mean the cost of the trains too? lol
For lower North Island they are getting 18 Hybrid Train Project (Total Cost): ~NZ$800+ million (Includes 35 years maintenance and infrastructure).
Oh wonder what impact the oil crises will put on the demand for new electric vehicles, as in the train variety?
Originally all five platforms at Britomart were serviced by DMU trains as the station had forced air ventilation and worked well. I’ve used the Te Huia several times when visiting Hamilton but have a 30 minute walk from Strand to CBD area and only basic facilities at Strand so whilst the trip is enjoyable the terminal facilities at AKL falls short of anywhere else in the world. It’s equivalent of a Masterton – WLG train terminating at Ngauranga in Wellington! The Te Huia must terminate at Britomart then I’m sure the patronage will improve.
If it electrifies sure. Otherwise no, they’ve permanently removed the fans and no one wants Britomart choked with diesel fumes.
There are platforms for Te Huia in Britomart once it electrifies. Same with the Northern Explorer. Until then they’re out in the cold @The Strand like a smoker.
They could terminate at Mt Eden if AT sorts out it’s operating pattern as that’s open air, but imo they should just get an electric locomotive for it @Pukekohe.
Hope the patronage improves then. What would be the key things to do next for the least cost I wonder. Perhaps the cost is not such a factor though but rather the “bang for buck”. Guess this is what a business case is about but my guess would be that opening more stations would give you the best increase in patronage, people want to go to or from places.
1. Tuakau Station
2. Te Kauwhata Station
3. Pokeno Station (but trickier/harder for good location now the old town has expanded).
4. Add another service in each direction for each of the days current offerings – ie 3 services on Saturday.
5. Further improved bus connections at the Hamilton end.
6. Track improvement work. General and specifically straightening track around Whangamarino.
7. New rolling stock & allow trains into Waitemata Station.
8. Hamilton Central Station.
Adding additional stops will only slow down the service. And unless you are a leisure traveller, the journey time door-to-door is too long already.
By the time they build theses stations, there could be speed improvements I’m sure. I’m also sure that adding some of these stops surely would increase patronage more than speeding it up. It’s about convenience too.
Patronage won’t meaningfully increase until they improve travel times.
The current 2h 30m train travel time is far too slow. It’s slower than cars most of the time, even with traffic! It’s even slower than the previous Waikato Connection service, which was 2h 4m.
The article itself says it’s a “leisure oriented service” which means it’s not serving a huge part of the market – commuters and business travellers.
The service needs to be improved with 1) electric trains, 2) double tracking the remaining single track sections to allow passing freight, and 3) express right of way in Auckland Metro (can also serve as the Pukekohe express for Auckland Metro).
This could get the travel time down to 1h 45m, making the train often as quick or quicker than cars.
It would also be possible to provide an hourly return service with only 4 trains (though would likely want 5 to have a spare).
This improvement to travel time and frequency would make the service useful for far more people, and would drive higher mode shift to public transport.
This would have much higher BCR than the new RoNS.
I think you are describing a very significant progress target. But one best achieved after lots of, by themselves insignificant, incremental improvements.
Service improvements, though very necessary cannot happen if the service is lost. The most significant challenge at the moment is just in keeping Te Huia running.
That the naming the service after something now extinct doesn’t become a prediction.
The most most improvement, needed at this stage, is over to potential patrons. To improve the patronage. In this Kiwi Rail, Auckland Council, and Waikato Councils all have a role to play in effecting continual improvements.
Shortening the time for Te Huia would be beneficial, but still need to consider the total door-to-door time for commuters. Also the Auckland CBD only accounts for 16% of the Auckland Region jobs, so even a move to Britomart would be a limited benefit.
Strongly disagree, it’s not just about jobs in the central area but tourism shopping, visiting friends and family, hospitality (& hospitals!) and better bus, ferry & bike connectivity.
A return to Britomart is needed. That will massively increase patronage and will be a game changer.
Services leaving the same time in both cities would help too as happens everywhere else in the world.
Returning to Britomart may well be a reasonable long-term goal but not realisable until mega bucks have been spent.
Three options.
1/ Megabucks on upgraded ventilation and fire suppression at Britomart to firstly accomodate the toxic diesel particulates and then the potential fire load of a tonnes of diesel fuel. Given the ongoing move away from diesel propulsion for high intensity passenger rail, a total waste of money
2/ New BEM rolling stock, like the ones being provided for similar provincial services out of Wellington. This is not realisable in the short term and may not even be the best solution medium term, and certainly not long term.
3/ Connect the Central North Island electrification to the Auckland electrification and then procure new 11kv Provicial EMU’s for thru running into Britomart.
Certainly the obvious end game, but in the meantime just building the justification for retaining Te Huia has to be the priority.
great to see the trial extension confirmed – this gives some valuable breathing room to really demonstrate what te huia can deliver. the one-year extension at the 60% national share rate seems like a reasonable compromise while the longer-term discussions happen through the 2027-2037 long term plan process.
the timing really does underscore what the article mentions about the importance of having alternatives to flying and driving between cities. whether it’s weather disruptions, road incidents, or just the desire for a more relaxed journey option, having reliable rail connecting hamilton and auckland adds genuine resilience to the transport network.
what i’m curious about is how they’ll use this extension period – will they focus on growing ridership, refining the timetable, or perhaps trialling additional stops? the decision to tie the full engagement to the next long term plan makes sense from a funding perspective, but it does mean we’re still in a holding pattern for permanent commitment.
fingers crossed the extension allows enough time to build the case for te huia’s long-term future. regional rail connections like this seem to benefit enormously from consistency and reliability over time – passengers need to know the service will still be there. hopefully by the time 2027 rolls around, the numbers will speak for themselves.
To rebuild ridership, is to increase frequency by modifying the existing Te Huia schedule with 3 return services per day Monday to Saturday and 2 return services on Sunday between Hamilton (Frankton and Rotokauri stations) and Auckland (The Strand not Pukekohe) using the current 2 passenger train sets complete with locomotives.
The proposed stations for Tuakau, Pokeno and Te Kauwhata are planned and are subject to funding from New Zealand Transport Agency, Waikato Regional and Waikato District councils.
There has been discussions for Te Huia to operate between Hamilton and Tauranga. This is out of the question under the current operational and financial model for the following reasons –
a. There is not enough train sets, as the current two passenger train sets are committed to current Te Huia’s current schedule and proposed concept timetable.
b. Bay of Plenty Regional Council and New Zealand Transport Agency will need to fund the Hamilton to Tauranga service’s, build Tauranga overnight stabling and crew facility if there is to be any early morning services between Tauranga, Hamilton and Auckland (The Strand) and having the necessary Te Huia drivers and onboard crew to be trained and certified of Kaimai tunnel operations.
c. Tauranga City Council in association with New Zealand Transport Agency to fund the building of Tauranga railway station as this is deemed to be a ‘public transport’ infrastructure asset.
What Te Huia has done, it has provided the information to create the necessary foundations for the Golden Triangle passenger rail network, being frequent ‘tap’ and travel intra/inter-regional passenger rail services between Auckland, Hamilton, Te Kuiti, Tauranga, Rotorua and Tokoroa with connecting bus services to/from Taupo and between Hamilton and Palmerston North from 2030 onwards using next generation of 5 carriage, bi directional battery electric passenger train sets based on the production specifications of Wellington’s new ‘Tuhono’ passenger train sets.
I think Auckland and Waikato need to do a deal. I am leaning towards terminating Te Huia at Pukekohe again. This frees up the Auckland network as we head towards opening the CRL. The new stations at Paerata and Drury will provide many park and ride spaces no doubt filled with Waikato cars. Also consider the Waikato cars on Auckland’s motorway. In exchange I would like to see a bus route opening up between Pukekohe Pokeno and Drury via Bombay. Running both directions. Te Huia could run more services if its only shuttling between Hamilton and Pukekohe. AT and Kiwirail can experiment with express services which can hopefully make up the time difference. People in the smaller towns get a better bus service. So a five year deal will give us data as too how we should go forward with train and public transport in South Auckland and Northern Waikato. Obviously, Waka Kotahi or NZTA should and will be involved. But the way I see it the talks need to start.
Royce – You do know, Te Huia is ‘priority’ freight with its own dedicate ‘cleared’ path slot between Pukekohe and Puhinui.
Survey’s of Te Huia passengers want the train to terminate at The Strand. Puhinui has the largest number of de-boardings and boardings of the 3 Auckland stations.
When Te Huia initially operated between Hamilton and Papakura. after the initial 3 months of service, passenger numbers declined hence the decision to terminate Te Huia at The Strand.
In preparation of CRL operations, plans are being finalised for Te Huia and the Northern Explorer trains to be hauled by 4 modified ETCS 1 enabled, higher speed ‘DL’ Class locomotives which means Te Huia will not operate in its current ‘push/pull’ operation, meaning it will not possible to change driving ends without disrupting Auckland metro train services at Pukekohe.
Kris, can you explain why (I remember something about it probably in a blog or website somewhere but for clarity here, I’m asking):
Te Huia used to have loco in the front and rear from the start or for a period but now seems it’s only pushed. I have a video or two of it hurtling through Sylvia Park getting pushed by 1 loco (it happens to time when I need to go somewhere every few weeks funnily enough. PS – it almost mucks up the metro time looking at the board but then the EMU turns up on time normally – with with 3rd main now it seems to be better).
Similarly is the Northern Explorer 1 or 2 loco’s?
Grant – Te Huia was planned to operate in a push/pull configuration but it took time for the rail safety regulator – NZ Transport Agency to approve ‘push/pull’ operations hence the use of two ‘DFB’ locomotives at either end of the consist in the first couple of years.
With regards to post CRL, it is planned to use a modified ‘DL’ locomotive to pull the Northerner Explorer train between Hamilton, Auckland (The Strand) and Hamilton as the DFB’s will not be ETCS compliant. At this stage locomotive configuration is not known for the Northern Explorer Hamilton/Auckland operations.
The modified ‘DL’ locomotives will be based at Te Rapa so they can be used for local freight and passenger rosterings.
Thanks Kris. I see a Wikipedia on it slightly adds information on that too:
“This could increase to two five-carriage consists with a capacity of 400 passengers each way daily. However, KiwiRail’s current restrictions limit the train to four carriages when being driven in push-mode from the SRV car. The restriction does not apply when being driven in pull-mode from the locomotive.”
So running it with a single DL either means turning by running it around the Eastern Southern line loop via Stand station, or having a place where the loco can run around the train, and the driver change cabs from one end of the loco to the other?
First option means Newmaket can only be used for either pick up or put down enroute to the Strand, not both.
Are their actually places in Auckland where the loco could run around the train without significantly disrupting other services?
Doesn’t seem their are many options except for the one-way run through the suburbs.
I’ve just read today https://adventuresintransitland.substack.com/p/getting-te-huia-moving-faster
“And this network will become even more frequent with the opening of City Rail Link in 2026. This makes it much more challenging to thread a regional train through a very busy all-stops metropolitan rail network.
The challenge that this presents can be shown by comparing two sections of Te Huia:
Hamilton to Pukekohe – 86.4 kms in 1 hour, 20 minutes at 65 km/h
Pukekohe to Auckland – 51.3 kms in 1 hour, 3 minutes at 49 km/h”
….and it’s clear that one thing that should def be done:
“Recommendation 1: Te Huia to use third main track (with a third platform at Puhinui Station) to bypass the most congested part of the Auckland rail network.”
I’m about to check the timetable of Northern Explorer against Te Huia because surely it they don’t clash the NE could also stop at Puhinui rather than Papakura giving transfer free access to the “Eastern” line via the Auckland Metro system, let alone to and from the airport bus service. Let’s get flying people/tourists onto the train instead of hiring a car.
Grant – With regards to your comment – “This could increase to two five-carriage consists with a capacity of 400 passengers each way daily. However, KiwiRail’s current restrictions limit the train to four carriages when being driven in push-mode from the SRV car. The restriction does not apply when being driven in pull-mode from the locomotive.”
NZ Transport Agency being the rail safety regulator, has certified Te Huia to operate in a 4 carriage consist due to its current ‘push/pull’ operating model.
With ‘DL’ pull operations, 5 carriage consist per ‘revenue’ earning’ train set is planned giving 193 seats with maximum capacity of 370 passengers per one way journey.
Royce – Waikato Regional Council through its ‘Busit’ brand has increased bus frequencies between Pokeno and Pukekohe and is planning for increased bus services between Te Kauwhata, Pokeno and Pukekohe.
Hi- NZ, I’m from Brisbane. My wife and I visited Auckland in cruise ship recently, we took the Te Huia train to Hamilton had lunch at a brewery nearby and caught the train back. A nice comfortable modern train with a cafe – great day out at a great price, where was the tourist encouragement? We had a reference from friends to find it. Population is aging – as I get older I’m more inclined to take public transport. I’m sure many others are feeling the same way.
Yes the brewery works well when using Te Huia. I’ve stopped in a few times before or after the train, including once when I warmed up there after a wet bike ride from Cambridge.
Good on you, but what made you choose the train? You could have walked around the CBD and stopped at The Occidental or bussed to some of the breweries/pubs nearby. I feel bus to Mt Eden, a climb up and down, pint at De Post, bus back, wander along the waterfront towards Winyard, have another glass along the way, and back to the ship would have been the more scenic option?
Alternatively a trip out west or to Waiheke for the real scenic choice, of course.
John, I was recommended this trip by friends. We’ve have walked the CBD etc, gone to Mission Bay for Fish and Chips and all the cliché “tourist spots” on previous visits. This trip was the perfect day out and will be what we doing in future, very relaxing, just hop on the train and buy your ticket; compare this to all your airport, car hire etc etc. With the fuel woes ongoing, I’d have thought that train travel would be expanding. I’m fairly sure that trains use a great deal less fuel that road vehicles and the aging population etc. Did a well organised train trip in Dunedin whereby the train came alongside the ship.
Really, I am glad you enjoyed it. I like a good train ride myself, I just think the stretch from Auckland to Hamilton is the the worst part of New Zealand in terms of scenery.
Well Kris if I lived in Pokeno I would like the option of a bus to Pukekohe to go shopping or a bus to Drury via the motorway where I could transfer to a train for the city. Hence my suggestion.The other positive would be they could retain the DF’s to run Te Huia as they wouldn’t run on the electrified section. And yes a bus through Te Kauwhata Mercer to Drury would be great. Drury would become the exchange station for passengers from the Northern Waikato until such time as we can build out a full all stops Auckland Hamilton train. I can imagine it would take at least a decade in the meantime a viable public transport network is required. We don’t know if we will require wires all the way to Hamilton or wether we can run battery hybrids for both freight and passengers yet.We don’t know how the Auckland suburban rail will run post the CRL startup. I think we could keep the two systems separate for the time being. When we know what we are looking at then we can proceed.
Royce – Waikato Regional Council doesn’t fund and operate bus services north of Pukekohe.
Once Motu Move is rolled in the Waikato and Auckland regions mid to late 2028, you will be able to ‘tap’ and travel between Pokeno or Te Kauwhata to Drury using bus and train travel. In fact you will be able to ‘Tap’ and travel between Swanson and Raglan or Matamata using bus and train travel.
Under Kiwirail’s Golden Triangle Electrification Programme it is planned to electrify between Pukekohe to Te Rapa and possibly to Ruakura and battery operation to Tokoroa, Tauranga, Murupara and Kawerau for rail freight, which would allow for the operation of battery/electric (25kva) passenger train (based on the production specifications of Wellington’s ‘Tuhono’ sets) services to Tokoroa, Tauranga and Te Puke and once Rotorua branch line is rebuilt to Rotorua.
Business case is being developed for the battery/electric (25kva) passenger train fleet for the Golden Triangle from 2033-203 and part of the Wellington ‘Tuhono’ production.
Well so maybe dump all passengers of a Puhinui then take the empty service through to Westfield to turn around. I expect the Strand will be needed to store empty trains to make the network work properly when the CRL starts anyways. AT just doesn’t know that yet.
Why not stop the Te Huia at Pukekohe and put the Waikato people on the City Rail Link. Win win for all, the customers get access to more of Auckland and not having to use the antiquated station in Auckland which is miles from transport hub.
Because that would provide even slower service than getting off at Puhinui does today. Being able to get on at Newmarket would cut my travel time Auckland – Hamilton by about forty minutes from current.
The saddest part of the trial in my opinion has always been that platforms were not built at Te Kauwhata, Pokeno and Tuakau. Those three locations may be smaller than Hamilton, but they have more Auckland commuters than Hamilton and Huntly combined.
It’s tragic they not only didn’t provide them from the start, but after all these years still haven’t moved to do it. Had they done so, Te Huia would be standing room only from Tuakau north.
Having ignored this throughout the whole trial, I’ll find it hard to feel sorry for them if the trains get canned. It’s just such an obvious solution to “getting bums on seats”.
Agree, these stations are necessary. Te Kauwhata in particular is mid way, households could easily live there and spilt work/study in the two cities via this service without every household member having their own car…
The problem is those additional stops need to come in conjunction with speed improvements. You might get some new riders in those towns, but how many would you lose from the stations before and after those, because an unnecessarily long trip (compared to previous services) just got longer?
I would have thought the bigger opportunity is a service linking those northern towns with Hamilton in the morning and getting them home again at night, with regular services in between.
To be quite honest the service is currently so slow you would not lose many customers at all from the other places as speed is obviousl not an issue to these existing or similar customers. More riders will help with making a better case for speed improvements.
Grant – As a regular user of Te Huia, the train is not slow when you factor in slow de-acceleration/acceleration diesel hauled locomotives, reduce speed arriving/departing at Huntly station and reduce speeds ranging from 25kph to 40kph at 3 uncontrolled ‘farm’ road crossings between Ngaruawahia and Amokura (Meremere) when Te Huia is in ‘push’ mode.
Yes and I see – quick Google result: 2023 census:
– Te Kauwhata has a population of 3,303, representing a significant 55.9% increase from the 2018 Census and
– Pokeno 132% increase to 6,081.
– Tuakau, had a population of 5,736 in the 2023, 12.4% increase.
Grant – Te Kauwhata, Pokeno, Tuakau are planned stations but funding for these stations needs to come from NZ Transport Agency, Waikato Regional Council and Waikato District Council.
Passenger train services from Te Kauwhata, Pokeno, Tuakau will probably happen from 2030 once the business case for battery/electric passenger train sets has been approved and funded. Alstom has production slots available until late 2028.as addon to Wellington ‘Tuhono’ passenger train sets,
If the short term Waikato Regional Council has increased bus services between Pokeno, Tuakau and Pukekohe and improved bus services is being planned between Te Kauwhata, Pokeno, Tuakau and Pukekohe.
I live in Wellington but once CRL is open, I intend to do fly into Auckland, try out using CRL and then travel on Te Huia to Hamilton before flying back down.
Hopefully other kiwis outside of Auckland or Hamilton will also consider doing the same -get on board I say!