Waikato Regional Council to debate Te Huia train trial extension
Tuesday, 16 December 2025
The future of Hamilton’s Te Huia rail service remains uncertain, with Waikato Regional Council looking at asking for an extra year of trial time - with the same level of government funding.
Regional councillors will meet on Thursday to vote on a proposal to support, or not, sending a letter to the New Zealand Transport Agency’s (NZTA) board asking it to extend Te Huia’s five-year trial until June 30, 2027, and to maintain the NZTA’s 60% Financial Assistance Rate (FAR).
A draft letter from the council moots another year of trial, with reasons including the impact of Covid delays and repeated Auckland network closures in 2025.
The train service has faced “quite a few challenges” that meant it only really got to run for three years and nine months of the five-year trial, the regional council’s internal transport committee chairperson Angela Strange said.
Money will be a key question for all involved, as the current 60% FAR is set to drop to 51% from July 2026, which would increase the amount paid by ratepayers.
The council’s support is conditional on NZTA agreeing to maintain the 60% subsidy for one further year.
According to a council agenda, Te Huia, which connects Hamilton and Auckland, has been operating as a trial since April 2021, and is currently funded until June 2026.
While the cost of running the service for a further year has not been detailed in the agenda report, a separate business case prepared earlier in the trial estimated operating costs were about $6 million annually.
Based on a 60% FAR, NZTA’s contribution for a 12-month extension would likely be in the order of $3.6 million, with the council funding the balance.
In a draft letter to NZTA chairperson Simon Bridges, regional council chairperson Warren Maher cites the impact of repeated rail closures in Auckland, and the effects of Covid-19 lock-downs on Te Huia’s performance, as reasons to extend the trial.
“Te Huia services between Hamilton and Auckland commenced a year later than originally planned due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and more recently have been significantly impacted by repeated engineering line closures on the Auckland network,” the draft letter states.
“As a result, the 30 Te Huia services per week have seen a drop in patronage in 2025 … [and] Waikato Regional Council indicatively supports a one-year extension of the trial until 30 June 2027 to enable patronage to recover and test the impact of benefits accruing from opening of City Rail Link later in 2026.”
The NZTA board is set to meet again in February 2026.
The council will then consider the outcome and determine its next steps, including whether to proceed with further investment or begin winding down the trial.
The council’s internal transport committee chairperson Angela Strange said she would not presume to pre-empt the vote, but hoped her colleagues would commit to the service for years to come.
“Since Te Huia was launched, we've had quite a few challenges thrown our way with Covid, then there was a struggle to get locomotive drivers, and then a lack of access into Auckland with all the maintenance going on … and we haven't been able to run on the school holidays this year, which is a major part of our market.
“When it all boils down, we've only really been running for three years and nine months out of the five years, and I really want to see it reach its full potential within that five-year trial period.”
Strange said no one on council wanted to see the service impact ratepayers, “hence asking for the continuation of the 60% rate”.
“Asking for the extension and the FAR rate to continue would have no impact on rates.”
She said the Hamilton City, Waipā District, and Waikato District councils all supported the service, and Hamilton City had invested significantly in local rail infrastructure.
“The more passengers we can get on the train, the less impact it has on ratepayer funding.”