Slow start for passenger numbers on new Hamilton to Auckland train's first week

Thursday, 15 April 2021

The Te Huia commuter train from Hamilton to Auckland launched for the first time on Tuesday, April 6 and 75 passengers took the first train. A week on, that's dropped to 28 travellers on the same run.

It’s been a slow start for passenger numbers on the new Hamilton to Auckland train, with only a handful of commuters travelling on some of the trips.

Figures from Waikato Regional Council shows nearly 100 seats empty on every train after its inaugural journey on April 6.

The train, known as Te Huia, can seat up to 147 people.

On the second day of the service, April 7, 21 commuters travelled on the earliest train from Hamilton at 5.46 am, and 40 took the second train at 6.28 am.

Passenger numbers on Te Huia for the first week of the service show a sharp drop off after the first day on April 6.

Two journalists left the Waikato Times office in Hamilton at 5.35am, one went on the train, the other drove, who made it to Auckland first?

A week later, figures from Tuesday, April 13 show 28 travellers took the earliest train, then 25 people at 6.28 am. Forty-eight people filled the train at Papakura back to Hamilton at 4.42 pm.

* Waka Kotahi-NZTA board member slams new train as 'worst of both worlds'

* Commuter's 12 year wait for a train at an end with Te Huia's 'maiden voyage'

The later return trip from Papakura at 6.25pm appears to have the lower passenger numbers, taking 12 back to Hamilton last Monday 12 and Tuesday April 13.

But Waikato Regional Council chair Russ Rimmington told Stuff the service needed time to grow patronage.

“No one is panicking yet, it’s been one week.

“We are giving this train five years.”

Rimmington said he believed the success of the service was reliant on getting to Puhinui in south Auckland and into downtown Auckland on one train.

“If we can avoid the transfer at Papakura sooner rather than later, that would be fantastic.”

A regional council spokesperson said the Palmerston North to Wellington service, the Capital Connection, also started with a handful of passengers and now took between 250-300 commuters a day.

Rimmington believed the train had “more potential” than the Capital Connection, due to the larger populations of both Hamilton and Auckland, and the expected growth between the two cities.

Te Huia has come under scrutiny this week when a Waka Kotahi-NZTA board member tweeted the train was “the worst of both worlds”.

Board member Patrick Reynolds tweeted it was hard to see how the train would attract much ridership until certain critical problems were solved.

“Te Huia’s current pattern is both slow + poor coverage, worst of both worlds, is one-way effectively; no way to go AKL-HAM in a day, blows through stations it should serve.”

But chair of Waka Kotahi-NZTA Sir Brian Roche said he was “extremely disappointed” by Reynolds' remarks.

“He has apologised – it’s not the way the board operates – we act collectively irrespective of our personal views.”