Driver shortages and the wait for a safety approval have led to a “bitterly disappointing” delay in expanding Te Huia train services between Hamilton and Auckland.
Extra trips were planned on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from the end of this month, but regional councillors were told this week that these were now on hold, possibly till mid next year.
The two-year-old service has already had a rocky start – it suffered delays and interruptions due to the pandemic, critics have attacked it as waste of taxpayers’ money and decoupling carriages is never a good look.
Yet passenger numbers on the Monday to Friday and Saturday services now range from about 200 to 400.
