By Geoff Lewis (Hamilton Journalist)

I’ve always thought the Hamilton to Auckland commuter train ‘Te Huia’ was misnamed from the outset – after an extinct bird – a less than auspicious portent. But maybe it should have been titled ‘Te Toroa’ – the Albatross – in reference to the burden it places on taxpayers and regional ratepayers.

Described by Prime Minister Luxon as a ‘White Elephant’ and Transport and Local Government Minister Simeon Brown as ”one of the most heavily subsidised public transport services in the country” – Land Transport New Zealand’s (LTNZ) board decided in May 24 to continue funding the service ($12.2 million) for the next two years to fulfil its planned five-year trial.

Seventy-five percent of the commuter rail services operating budget of $508,000 a month is covered by NZTA.  Most of the remaining operating costs (21.2 percent) are covered by The Waikato Regional Council, i.e. ‘us’, via our regional rates bill. The remaining 3.3 percent comes from our neighbours in the Waikato District.

NZTA plans to reduce its support to 70 percent from July 1 and the WRC proposes to pick up the shortfall by boosting fares by 20 percent as well as drawing down the $2.2 million in funding saved during Covid disruptions.

Te Huia’s initial Hamilton to Auckland travel time was two and a half hours. When avoiding Auckland rush-hour, the same trip takes about one and a half hours by car.

Te Huia’s motive unit is unable to utilise Auckland’s central Britomart domestic rail centre and passengers are required to disembark at ‘The Strand,’ a half hour walk from Queen St.

Another drawback with Te Huia, as with all rail services, is its inflexibility. You can get into the Auckland CBD, but then what? What if you want to go to Henderson or Takapuna? Do you catch a bus, a taxi, an Uber adding more time and cost?

The justification was offered that ‘businesspeople’ could work on their laptops while on the train. While it is convivial to chat to business associates face to face, the use of modern on-line conference facilities allows greatly reduced travel, time and cost. Why not work on a laptop from the office or home in Hamilton?

Following a test ride to Huntly carrying former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Transport Minister Michael Wood and Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta, the service was launched to the public on 6 April 2021 with at least $85 million input from Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.

A March 31, 2024 analysis for the Waikato Chamber of Commerce gives the figures. The original total capital expenditure was $98 million including $68.7 million in capital infrastructure and $29.3 million in operational funding. The service provides four trips a day with 147 seats per train.

According to the Chamber report, Te Huia has served 160,919 passengers since 2020 at an average cost per passenger of $540 and average daily use has plateaued at 34 percent of capacity.

Asked by City WatchNZ if Te Huia was a ”good idea or a bad idea” Chamber CEO Don Good said…

“The money spent on it could have been better used to improve things like the public health service. Or they should look at making it properly ‘user-pays’ (instead of relying on tax and rate-payer subsidies). However, that would push fares up to four-or five-times current levels and we also have viable alternatives like the expressway and bus services.”

In his foreword to the review Good states…

”The time has come to decide on the white elephant we call Te Huia. The data is clear: the number of passengers is not growing but the costs are. In a cost of living crisis, we have blown $100 million of taxpayer and ratepayer funds on a form of transport we knew was never going to be viable financially. With Councils increasing rates hugely and the country facing a big bill for fixing an infrastructure cliff, we simply cannot afford to fund an elitist commuter rail service for the small number of Waikatoites working in Auckland.”

Te Huia is currently operated by KiwiRail on a no-risk, cost-plus contract. The Waikato Regional Council (WRC) pays a ‘Service Fee’ monthly which is a percentage of the ‘Operating Cost Amount’. Therefore, if the operational costs for Te Huia are higher KiwiRail will receive an increased ‘Service Fee’ (from regional ratepayers).

Generously assuming all passengers per month (5,029) paid for a return trip from Hamilton to The Strand ($36), this would equate to $181,044, resulting in an operational shortfall of $326,956 per month.  ”What is hard to understand is that KiwiRail had no incentive to promote the service with their no-risk cost-plus deal. What were our councillors thinking?” Good stated ON the Chamber’s webpage for the review.

The main alternative to Te Huia is The Waikato Expressway, which carries 20,000 vehicles a day; conservatively assumed to represent one passenger each. The total project cost for the Waikato Expressway was $1.5 billion (not including land costs) with $1.4 million in operational costs per annum.

Te Huia is not the first effort at a Hamiton to Auckland commuter service.

In April 1968 a refurbished NZR RM class (88-seater) nicknamed the Blue Streak was used for a trial Hamilton–Auckland service. This was discontinued due to lack of patronage.

Another attempt, the Waikato Connection, was launched in June 2000 consisting of a weekday single return service using diesel multiple unit railcars. The service was operated by Tranz Scenic as a commercial venture. The Government then sold Tranz Rail to the Australians. It’s new owners, Australian West Coast Railway, was only prepared to purchase the most viable services, prompting Tranz Rail to terminate the Waikato Connection which ceased in October 2001.  The general manager of West Coast Railway stated that the Waikato Connection was “the most unprofitable service” but that they would be prepared to consider retaining it with community support.

Efforts were made to save the service prior to its cancellation, including an investigation made by Environment Waikato (now the Waikato Regional Council) into providing a subsidy. The Council, which at the time had a policy of not subsidising rail services, decided against providing the $400,000 pa needed. An unsuccessful approach was also made to the Government to pick up the shortfall.

At the time of its 2001 cancellation, the Waikato Connection was being patronised by an average of 129 passengers per trip, most of whom boarded at Pukekohe or Papakura, with only about 30 of those travelling the full distance between Hamilton and Auckland. It was effectively part of the Auckland domestic service.

Meanwhile, former 24-year-serving Hamiton City Councillor Dave Macpherson, a vocal advocate for Te Huia, has re-emerged as spokesman for South Island based group, The Future is Rail, which is advocating for the re-establishment of The Southerner – a nine-hour Christchurch to Invercargill rail service cancelled in 2002, after 42 years, due to lack of patronage.

In 2001, Tranz Rail sold a 50 percent share in long-distance passenger services operated by Tranz Scenic to directors of Australian company West Coast Railway, but the company elected not to purchase the Southerner without the promise of a subsidy. The Ministry of Economic Development funded a feasibility study into the economic impact of subsidising the Southerner, but this failed to demonstrate a viable business case for the service – patronage having fallen to an average of between 40 and 50 people per day in each direction. This was roughly half of what was necessary to make the train viable. As neither airline nor bus services along the route were subsidised, the Government decided not to subsidise the train and its demise was inevitable.

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