Warren Maher: Waikato Regional Council Chair on the request for a one year extension of the Te Huia service

The Hamilton to Auckland passenger rail service could come off the tracks if it becomes too expensive for rate payers.  

Waikato Regional Council is writing to the NZTA board to ask for a one-year extension of the service, through to 2027.

They want to test full integration with Auckland’s City Rail Link, which opens next year. 

Waikato Regional Council Chair Warren Maher told Heather du Plessis-Allan 60% funding through the Land Transport Fund will be vital to keep it going. 

He says if it drops back to 51%, they want the review of the trial to go ahead at NZTA's April meeting, and that could be the death nail for Te Huia. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I don't know if you're going to believe this, but

(00:01):
Wykuttle Regional Council is asking for a one year extension
for the Huia train service. This is a slow train
that runs from Auckland to Hamilton. The funding rounds that
runs out in June next year, but they're asking n
ZTA to fund it through to June twenty twenty seven.
Warren mar is the way Kato Regional Council chair is
with us.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Morning Warren, Good morning, Heather.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Now I've fesced up already that we have a pre
existing relationship with each other. We know each other.

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Yeah, excellent, Glad We've got that clarity out there so.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
We can have a robust discussion without offending anyone on this.
I look forward to it, Okay, Warren, Now, so just
tell me so basically, what you guys want to do
is you want to test out whether the city rail
link under Auckland is going to make to Huia better.
Is that right?

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Yes, Yes, that's correct. It's sort of one of three
reasons why we reached that decision yesterday.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
Okay, Well, how would it make it better?

Speaker 2 (00:55):
Well, potentially then there's more services running past the stations
that ceter So there's more opportunity for people to get
to different destinations once that central roll links.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
Up and running, But it doesn't make the train any faster, doesn't.
It's still a slow like the underlying concept still sucks.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yeah, personally, potentially I agree with you. But what it
does do and it has proven to be slower than
a vehicle, so we're not arguing that point. But part
of the other two reasons behind the extension or the
asking for the extension, was that we had letters of
support and as well as a delegation from Hamilton City councilors,

(01:35):
we had letters support from wyke at A District and
also WYPA, And you've got to remember it's the Hamilton
rate payers and the wyk at A District rate payers
that are actually paying for this service, so you know
that we needed to listen to what they had to say.
But we made it very clear in our letter that
if we cannot get that fair assistance rate at sixty

(01:57):
percent as it sits now, if it drops back to
fifty one, we want the review of the trial to
go ahead at their April meeting of NZTA, and that
may be the death knell of Tahua. I'm not sure
that'll come down to a number of decisions and then
us going out to consultation in our long term.

Speaker 1 (02:14):
Plan, because what is this thing still costing? Is it
still about ninety two dollars per passenger to run it?

Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah? Yeah, yeah, it means it is. And if you
look at a Hamilton rate player, say a million dollar property,
there's a twenty dollar flat rate, and then there's a
ten dollars eighty eight per one hundred thousand of CV.
So basically, if you've got a million dollar home in Hamilton,
you're paying one hundred and twenty eight dollars in your
white cat original council rate to subsidize that service.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
Yes, and I mean I would think that if we're
getting the scalpel out, if we're putting a rates cap
on everybody and we're getting the scalpel out and we're
trying to get under that four percent, this has got
to be one of the first things that gets cut.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
Potentially, It's something we'll definitely look at for sure.

Speaker 1 (02:55):
Brilliant Okay, Warren, thank you. I still like you after that, actually,
so I'll see you for a beer, see you for
Abbia maybe at the weekend Mate, look after yourself as
we're in ma Whitecattle Regional Council Chair and incidentally fantastic electrician.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
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