Te Huia train service has earned $300,000 and cost $3m, but councillor confident it'll get back on track

Friday, 3 December 2021

Financial reports on the Te Huia service between Waikato and Auckland were revealed after repeated requests from a Hamilton City Councillor.

The cost to run Waikato-Auckland train service Te Huia has so far been about ten times what it earned.

The financial performance of the Waikato-to-Auckland service has been laid bare in a report released as part of the agenda for Hamilton City Council’s Infrastructure Operations Committee meeting on Tuesday, December 7.

Te Huia earned $298,062 from April to October, according to a table in the report. Meanwhile, gross operating costs were $3,032,452 – a difference of $2,734,390.

Weekday demand for the service was below even Covid-adjusted predictions but the bright spot is unexpectedly high weekend demand.

Hamilton City councillor Rob Pascoe had been pushing to see the finances for Te Huia (file photo).

* Te Huia train service on track for central Auckland stop on weekdays

The finances cover seven months but the service couldn't run in some of them, due to Covid restrictions.

* On-demand bus services in the offering for Hamilton

* Hamilton councillors put Te Huia train into Auckland's Waikato river water deal

* Services cancelled as carriages on Te Huia train separate on tracks

Hamilton City councillor Ewan Wilson said it was too early to judge the success of Te Huia, and he was convinced schedule changes would prove its worth.

And a Hamilton City Councillor says more time and further changes to the service will get it back on track.

Te Huia data was released in the wake of Councillor Rob Pascoe's criticism at the lack of financial transparency.

“I’m yet to receive one single bit of information despite the fact everyone says, when you ask that question, ‘yeah not a problem, we can get that for you straight away’,” Pascoe said at a council meeting in November.

Pascoe was previously assured by councillor Ewan Wilson he would get the information – and it might be “ugly reading”.

Te Huia finances were laid bare in a report on a Hamilton City Council agenda.

Wilson told Stuff on Friday he wasn’t surprised at the numbers in the Te Huia report, but was confident proposals would transform its fortunes.

“We’ve operated for five months,” he said.

“If you were to judge us now, it’s early days and on a non-optimal schedule.”

While weekday demand was low, weekend demand for Te Huia services was 420 per cent above projections.

The initial inability to run the service into the heart of Auckland had been a huge barrier, but with services now stopping at The Strand that would prove a “game changer”.

“I’m convinced, one to two years of this new optimal strategy will prove there is a market”, he said.

“I think the fundamental component is New Zealand needed a step change in multi-mode transport options.

“What we’ve offered the users was not optimal, we couldn’t get past Papakura, not delivering the product.”

He said a schedule that offered Aucklanders a same-day return would open the service up beyond commuters and into the leisure market.

“We can target a very clear market segment.”

Wilson did, however, highlight a potentially fatal blow – an incoming National Government he said would be committed to road, not rail, investment.

The report notes that while the service has been on pause since August 18, due to Covid-19, a number of fixed costs have remained.

It also shines a light on passenger numbers, noting that the weekday service is tracking 49 per cent below business case projections, and 28 per cent below Covid-adjusted projections.

The report contains one bit of good news, with weekend demand tracking at 420 per cent above business case projections.

The report also includes measures for 2022 under the heading “Te Huia Improvements Plan”, that includes a February ‘restart’ to include four trips per weekday, and two Saturday services, with all services to The Strand.

By March the second phase of the ‘restart’ is set to commence with four weekday trips, two Saturday trips and an additional stop at Puhinui.

By May the service aims to be running six weekday services and four Saturday services, as well as two Sunday services.

The report notes a number of caveats however, including “Auckland Transport confirming cost and installation of ticketing solutions”, “timetable committee approval” and what is described as “Saturday demand rebuilding”.

The report also includes detailed financials on the 2021/22 year and forecasts for 2022/23 and 2023/24.

By the end of 2023/24, the service is projected to have a net financial position of -$14,682.