One-off Te Huia rail charter service cancellation another bump in the tracks for plagued service

The Te Huia carriages is set to launch in early 2021. Photo / Dave Macpherson

Only a month after the announcement, the special one-off trip on the new Hamilton to Auckland commuter rail Te Huia has hit the buffers with the service's governance group making the decision to cancel the weekend service due to a temporary line closure.

It is another bump in the tracks for the commuter rail service which has been plagued by delays due to Covid-19 and worn rail tracks, with most aspects of the service such as the Rotokauri transport hub and the Huntly rail station upgrade on track.

The decision was made following news from KiwiRail that, as part of ongoing testing of the rail, a section of track has been identified between Otahuhu and Auckland city which is worn and will need replacing during a temporary line closure.

"It's gutting," said Waikato regional councillor and rail governance working group chairman Hugh Vercoe.

"But for the charter service to be successful we need to deliver a quality experience with people arriving by train in Auckland's CBD. With this new track closure, that's now simply not possible."

The track closure would mean the charter service – proposed to run as a one-off to give people in the Waikato and Auckland regions a taste of the Te Huia experience – would have to terminate or board in Otahuhu rather than The Strand, with bus transfers.

Vercoe said the group had sought feedback on the alternative from Leisure Time Tours and Hamilton & Waikato Tourism. They supported the decision not to proceed.

The request to operate the charter service came from Hamilton city and Waikato district councillors on the Te Huia rail governance group as an opportunity to experience Te Huia train travel and promote the start-up passenger service ahead of its launch. It was supported by Waikato regional councillors at their October meeting.

KiwiRail has been carrying out an urgent programme of work to replace and repair about 100km of worn out rail on Auckland's metro network.

The commuter rail service was expected to start at the end of 2020, but due to the Covid-19 lockdown this was pushed back to early 2021. There has been no word of an exact starting date in 2021 yet.