Hundreds meet to save Te Huia service
Hamilton’s Te Huia rail service may not have much time left, but its supporters were out in force to remind officials it’s not just about commuting to and from Auckland.
More than 200 people, the vast majority of whom support the service, turned out in Hamilton on the weekend to discuss its future at a meeting held by the Save Te Huia organisation.
The meeting was held just days before the board of the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) Waka Kotahi is expected to make a decision about continued multi-million dollar funding for the five-year train trial at some stage this week.
The NZTA currently funds 75% of Te Huia’s costs after fare revenue is taken into account, and in the 2022-23 financial year contributed more than $4.6 million.
Save Te Huia spokesperson and community activist Georgie Dansey said the Government should at least commit to the service’s five-year trial before pulling the plug.
“We held a hugely successful public meeting with over 200 people turning up and had really positive conversations with people holding all sorts of different perspectives.
“We have people from the disability perspective talking about accessibility and options for those who can’t drive, from an environmental perspective saying more public transport keeps cars off roads, and from a tourism perspective saying a train service from Auckland is excellent transport for visitors.”
Dansey said the $20 million invested into the Rotokauri transport hub to help Te Huia work would be a “huge waste and be financially inconsiderate” considering how much money had been committed to its infrastructure.
“It’s not perfect, we know that, but we have it and we want it to continue. We’d love to have an electric train in future - but if it gets canned now it will be another 20 years before another service would be considered.”
She said it would take 400 years of Te Huia subsidies for it to reach the cost of building the Waikato Expressway and there were broader arguments for the use of rail as public transport, such as reducing congestion on roads, and reducing road deaths and accidents.
“This is a future thinking initiative ... with Hamilton being the fastest growing city in New Zealand, it needs to be connected to our biggest city, and to Tauranga as well.”
Hamilton West MP Tama Potaka, who was in Ōtorohanga opening a giant wētā breeding programme at the time of the meeting, said it was great to see people so “enthusiastic about transport systems”.
“But with the worst road death statistics for any region in New Zealand, the Waikato needs better roads. Any further decision on Te Huia is up to minister [Simeon] Brown, but as the MP for Hamilton West I have great interest in transportation around our city.”