Christchurch commuter rail trial gets green light

The Government is funding a commuter rail trial in Christchurch, while also establishing the Mainlander train between Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill as a regular service.The 12-month commuter train trial, to be run by Mainland Rail, would have commuter services running morning and evening between Rangiora, Rolleston and central Christchurch, starting in mid-2027.The Rolleston trip was expected to take less than 20 minutes by rail instead of 50 minutes by road, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones said."The fares will be announced closer to the start date, but we are talking about a public transport trial and would expect affordable fares similar to those paid by rail commuters in Wellington and Auckland," Jones said.The $3.4 million project would also introduce regular services between Christchurch, Ashburton, Timaru, Oamaru, Dunedin, Gore and Invercargill.Half of the money would come from the Government's Regional Development Fund, with the remaining $1.7 million to be funded by local councils, who still need to sign off on the project."The economic development benefits are obvious: railing people into Canterbury, Otago and Southland towns to spend in the local economies, strengthening tourism in the South Island, creating employment, and putting assets New Zealanders already own to better use for the benefit of our economy," Jones said.Paul Jackson from Rail & Tourism Group Holdings, which runs operation Mainland Rail, said they had already invested significant capital in buying former Auckland Transport commuter carriages and shifting them to the South Island.Passenger fares are expected to cover half the proposed trial's $6.8 million operating budget."We've already made a substantial investment ourselves because we believe commuter rail can work here. This funding is an important next step towards getting the trial under way," Jackson said.Trial 'too short'Reacting to the announcement, public transport advocacy group Save Our Trains Southern said it was concerned a 12-month trial would be too short.A five-year trial would be better, similar to the timeframe given to the Hamilton-to-Auckland train, Te Huia, spokesperson Dave McPherson said.Commuter rail could help ease congestion in Christchurch but it would not happen overnight, and should be considered a medium- to long-term solution, he said.