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The Waikato Regional Council will ask the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) Board to approve a one-year extension of the Te Huia passenger rail service.
A draft letter approved by councillors last month said Waikato Regional Council, subject to NZTA Board approval, indicatively supports a one-year extension of the trial until June 30, 2027 to enable patronage to recover and test the impact of benefits accruing from opening of City Rail Link later in 2026 as well as continued implementation of a series of measures to increase both patronage and revenue.
Te Huia is currently funded to the end of June 2026, but at that time will not have completed the five years originally approved. This is due to services between Waikato and Auckland starting a year later than first planned as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and more recently, the impact of repeated engineering line closures on the Auckland network.
A report to the council said staff from the Waikato Regional Council and NZTA had identified an opportunity for the extension of the trial to the end of June 2027.
The report said this would take the total operational period of the trial from three years nine months to four years nine months, and enable another year for Te Huia to recover from service disruptions in 2025 related to Auckland engineering works.
Te Huia added Sunday services at the end of July last year, so an extension would allow time to compile better usage statistics. It would also test full integration with the new post City Rail Link timetable to be introduced later this year.
A motion to approve the draft letter requesting the extension and maintenance of the 60 per cent funding assistance rate was carried unanimously.
Waikato Regional Council chair Warren Maher said they acknowledged the significant support the agency has provided Te Huia to date and looked forward to receiving the results of the board’s conversations in February.
Councils that form part of the Future Proof partnership – Auckland, Hamilton city, and Waipā and Waikato district – had earlier signalled their support for the extension of the trial at the 60 per cent funding assistance rate.
Hamilton City Council’s letter of support – along with those of Waipā and Waikato district councils – said they were committed to sustainable economic growth across the sub-region, along the Hamilton to Auckland corridor, and in the emerging economic zone centred around the north Waikato and south Auckland areas.
With housing growth continuing to be strong, it was essential that resilient multi-modal road and rail corridors are protected and developed over time to offer choice for people and freight today, while protecting against future congestion.
The NZTA plans to consider the matter at its board meeting next month. If the NZTA Board supports a 12-month extension to the end of June 2027 with 60 per cent funding, regional councillors will be asked to support local share funding. This decision will likely be made at the council’s February meeting.
If the trial is extended, full engagement on the future of Te Huia would then occur as part of the 2027-2037 Long Term Plan process.
Should the NZTA Board decide either not to support an extension of the trial or to reduce its funding to 51 per cent, the 2026/27 Annual Plan process would then include full public engagement on the future of the service, including the proportion of local share funding required.
