Te Huia train service’s future now in the hands of NZTA

Friday, 19 December 2025

The future funding of Hamilton’s Te Huia rail link to Auckland is now in the hands of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA).

But any decisions coming from the NZTA’s board won’t be made until it meets again in February after the Waikato Regional Council voted unanimously to send it a letter asking for an extension of Te Huia’s trial period for an extra year with the same levels of funding.

However, debate on whether Te Huia was economically viable or should continue into the future was quickly quelled by regional council chairperson Warren Maher who reminded councillors to stick to the issue at hand.

On Tuesday, the Waikato Times reported on the council’s plan to send the NZTA a letter 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).

The service has faced “quite a few challenges”, meaning it only got to run for three years and nine months of its planned five-year trial, the regional council’s internal transport committee chairperson Angela Strange said.

She cited service disruptions caused by the Covid pandemic and multiple track closures as the main reasons for asking for an extension.

Money is key to the NZTA’s decision, 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 a further year.

Just days before Thursday’s meeting, the council received letters of support for Te Huia’s continued trial from Hamilton City, Waipā District, and Waikato District councils.

Hamilton City councillors Sarah Thompson and Sue Moroney spoke on behalf the city council at the start of the meeting during its public forum.

As a regular user of the service, Moroney said Te Huia was an important part of the city council’s long-term transport network “linking the largest city in New Zealand to the fourth largest city in New Zealand”.

In its letter, the city council said it had invested $10.5 million into the Rotokauri Transport Hub, and the NZTA $18.5 million, with both parties funding ongoing maintenance costs.

“Hamilton City Council’s formal position to date has been in support of the Te Huia service.”

Councillors went on to debate changes to the letter’s wording before deciding on a final draft.

Councillor Ben Dunbar-Smith said if the NZTA chose not to continue with the 60% funding rate, “we should allow NZTA to make a decision on whether Te Huia will have a permanent future”.

Councillor Chris Hughes questioned the amount of money being spent on the service by both tax and ratepayers before his line of questioning was shut down by Mayer.

“I cannot see the point of running the service beyond the end of June next year if the NZTA is not going to support us at the requested FAR level,” Hughes said.

“The costs are unknown at this stage and that’s what scares the living daylights out of me … but once we have got NZTA support we have got a commitment and can move forward.”

Councillor Garry Reymer questioned if the NZTA needed the trial to continue at all before councillor Jennifer Nickel reminded her colleagues they were in partnership with the NZTA and the sending of their request was “ultimately a diplomatic exchange”.

Maher said “greater conversations” would be held by the council’s transport committee on Te Huia’s future in the coming months.