This lasted a little under a month, with Te Huia returning to Auckland Strand Station from Monday 7th August 2023. That week saw Te Huia offering free rides to all customers.
In those six days, 7-12 August 2023 (as Te Huia doesn’t run on Sundays), Te Huia carried 3,835 passengers on 22 services – two return trips on weekdays and a single return trip on Saturday. That equals an average of 174 passengers per trip. According to Te Huia, the strongest uptake was on the interpeak trips to and from Hamilton and on the Saturday trips. Additional carriages had to be put on to accommodate passenger numbers as Te Huia’s normal consist accommodates 125 passengers. \
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3,835 people using Te Huia in a week indicates quite some latent level of demand for inter-regional train services in Aotearoa. So it’s odd to think to Te Huia’s future is far far than certain, and that its fate could swing on the result of the October national election. Why this is requires a bit of delving into Te Huia’s short but event-packed history. So let’s look at Te Huia’s story to date.
