A former Waikato politician who helped bring the Hamilton-to-Auckland Te Huia train to life now has his sights set on Tauranga. Senior writer Mary Anne Gill finds out whether the Golden Triangle rail link is gaining traction.
Dave Macpherson, pictured at the Rotokauri Transport Hub opening in 2019, may have retired from politics, but his passion for passenger rail is still full steam ahead. Photo: Mike Walen
Dave Macpherson was chairing Hamilton City Council’s transport committee when he began campaigning for a Hamilton-to-Auckland train service.
Nearly two decades later, Te Huia is running – thanks in part to his persistence, New Zealand First leader Winston Peters, and former Waikato Regional Council chair Russ Rimmington.
Now 72 and retired from local politics, Macpherson has relocated to Dunedin but remains deeply invested in the future of passenger rail, particularly a service linking the Golden Triangle: Auckland, Waikato, and Bay of Plenty.
Te Huia. Photo: Darren Davis
“At the end of the day it will need to be a government decision,” he tells The News but if there is anyone able to lobby other politicians, it is Macpherson who is now part of The Future is Rail, New Zealand’s national passenger rail advocacy group.
Last month, the group backed a Green Party proposal to establish a passenger rail service connecting Auckland, Hamilton, and Tauranga – a corridor that serves nearly half of New Zealand’s population.
Group chair Roger Blakely said the proposal is both logical and vital.
“By linking Auckland, Hamilton, and Tauranga via the existing rail corridor, the train would serve up to 2.5 million people. It’s time to connect our country’s most significant economic and population centres with modern, efficient transport.”
Te Huia train
The proposed service would complement and extend the existing Te Huia train, which connects Hamilton and Auckland seven days a week. Sundays were added last month following a 42 per cent increase in the Saturday services and an increase in total passenger numbers by 16 per cent.
The full 225km journey would take about two and a half hours with infrastructure upgrades, including new passing loops and double tracking through Whangamarino Swamp near Mercer.
Future plans would need to include more trains and station refurbishments in Tauranga, Morrinsville, and Matamata.
One of the biggest challenges is the Kaimai Tunnel – New Zealand’s longest railway tunnel at 8.9km. Opened to passenger traffic in 1979, it operated intermittently until 2001. Today, more than 20 freight trains pass through daily, transporting timber, dairy, and manufactured goods to and from the Port of Tauranga via the Mount Maunganui Branch Line.
Following a 2012 incident where contractors were exposed to toxic fumes, gas monitoring systems were upgraded.
Macpherson compares the situation to the Otira Tunnel under the Southern Alps, where a fan system extracts fumes after trains pass through.
The windows of TranzAlpine’s observation cars are closed for the trip through the tunnel.
A freight train emerges out of the Kaimai Tunnel. Photo: Kiwi Rail.
“Rail is making a comeback,” says Macpherson who recently helped gather 12,610 signatures to restore the long-retired Southerner train service from Invercargill to Christchurch.
Winston Peters
He believes rail transcends politics. Macpherson stood twice for New Zealand Alliance and is a staunch advocate for the left, openly supporting the Labour Party during its tenure. But in Peters, a big fan of rail and now the Minister of Rail in the Coalition Government, he has found a soul mate.
“New Zealand First has a rail renaissance in the front of their minds and see it as an election winner and they’re right too.”
It was Peters’ backing which got Te Huia on the lines and last month he praised the expansion into Sunday services and KiwiRail’s management of the service.
“There is a growing public demand for passenger rail,” says Macpherson who reveals 22 per cent of Te Huia’s passengers are from Auckland.
In addition to his advocacy work for the Southerner, he points to upgrades for the Capital Connection and Wairarapa rail services.
“Investing in passenger rail has wide and growing support from across the political spectrum, and this (Golden Triangle) project is a perfect opportunity to deliver what New Zealanders are asking for,” he says.
Te Huia. Photo: Takeshi Aida
Te Huia
