"While, in fact, the report alluded the train was viable, the message that got out to Hamilton City Council and the media at the time was that it wasn't, and I think that was to do with one or two things that had some question marks on them, rather than there not being demand for the service."
TRON recognised that in 2013 there was not the volume of traffic between Hamilton and Auckland that there is today.
An increasing number of people were travelling between the cities for not only work, but also to see family and friends, and attend major events.
The average cost of housing in Auckland also exceeded twice that of Hamilton in the past three years, meaning an increasing number of Aucklanders were beginning to move to the Waikato.
"So we're getting that research updated so that we've got completely current facts about what we're talking about, not least because we're aware that the naysayers are likely to have an objection for every claim we make," said Trodden.
"We want to be absolutely sure that the information is correct, and hopefully that will be back to us by the end of February."
TRON did not feel the new Hamilton mayor was necessarily a naysayer.
"To be fair to Mayor Andrew King, he comes out of a background of motor vehicles, not public transport, so as a councillor this has not been his area. He's been on different committees," said Trodden.
"We haven't really had a chance to really, truly present our case to him. I wouldn't say that he was a naysayer. I would say he's not offering an opinion either way. He hasn't actually come out and said, 'This will never happen.'"
When Hamilton News approached King for comment, he echoed his sentiment expressed during last year's election campaign.
"One hundred and fifty thousand people live in Hamilton. That's not enough population to justify the millions of dollars that would have to be spent on a train," he said.
"If central government wants to put the money up for it, that would be great, and if Waikato Regional Council wants to get involved, who are in charge of local public transport, that's great. But it's not a Hamilton City council responsibility."
King did acknowledge that a government-funded intercity train would be "a game changer for both Hamilton and Auckland" if it could make the journey significantly faster than road transport.
He said it could take the strain off the Auckland property market by allowing more people to live in Hamilton while commuting to Auckland for work.
However, King recalled the service being trialled around five years ago. It took the train well over two hours to travel between the cities, posing no competition to cars and buses, and attracting minimal patronage from commuters.
Although there were other people on the new Hamilton City Council who did not see the Hamilton-Auckland train as viable, Trodden believed that was partially because of misinformation that has been around in the past.
The report TRON will present to decision makers at Hamilton City Council, the NZ Transport Agency would contain realistic, factual information to back up its argument, said Trodden.
She said the group would be giving consideration to the timeframe under which it would be working. TRON recognised 2017 as the year of a general election, in which other issues may hold a more prominent position on the political front due to electioneering.
"What we're wanting the public to know is this is happening," said Trodden.
"We want this to happen. We've got good support from a number of key people. What we also need is a wider wave of public support behind that, and we'll start a process for that which we hope will include an open day, train rides and Q&A, once we've got the research document complete, so we should be able to answer to everything that gets thrown at us."
