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# Labour’s Ghost Train an Unmitigated Disaster
- URL: https://goodoil.news/labours-ghost-train-an-unmitigated-disaster/
- Published: 2021-07-08T20:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2024-07-17T16:58:32.000Z
- Author: Cam Slater
- Tags: Featured, NZ, NZ Politics, Politics, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2024-07-17 01:54

Labour has ploughed tens of millions of dollars into the very slow train from Hamilton to Papakura, and now the initial gloss has worn off it has [proven to be a white elephant](https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/politics/te-huia-hamilton-to-auckland-trains-lacklustre-popularity-revealed/?ref=goodoil.news):

> New figures reveal the Te Huia Hamilton to Auckland train is **only a quarter full on weekdays**.  
>  
> Newstalk ZB can reveal there are **just 34 people, on average, who ride the train on weekdays** – the train has a capacity for roughly 150 passengers.  
>  
> That means **75 per cent of the carriages are empty on Monday to Friday.**  
>  
> Newstalk ZB can also reveal r**evenue brought in by ticket sales on an average weekday is just $1679 – or less than half a million dollars a year.**  
>  
> Meanwhile, **cash ticket prices for the service have gone up.**  
>  
> The numbers come from an Official Information Act request provided to National’s transport spokesman Michael Woodhouse.  
>  
> He said the Government is **losing money hand over fist** on a project no one asked for.  
>  
> “We believed this service just wouldn’t be patronised and we were right.”  
>  
> He said when the service launched, there was a lot of fanfare with MPs and officials on the first trip.  
>  
> Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was one of the first passengers – she and a number of other MPs were on the inaugural trip.  
>  
> When the service launched in March, Waikato Regional Council chair **Russ Rimmington was adamant it would not become a ghost train** – even going as far as saying he would give away tickets, if necessary.   
>  
> But Woodhouse said the numbers paint a very different picture.  
>  
> NewstalkZB

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/31/f4/31f4e20a-0315-499e-83ff-139e8eab53bf/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/ghost-train.jpg)

Huia Ghost train. Image credit The BFD

It most certainly is a ghost train, with ghost passengers. What a colossal waste of taxpayers money.

> Even with highly subsidised fares, no one wants to use it. It is too slow, too unreliable, and too inconvenient.

At least we have a new [dictionary meaning](https://thebfd.co.nz/the-bfd-dictionary/?ref=goodoil.news) for the word *Huia – Noun. Def. Something very expensive that no one ever uses. Example. “The council built a really expensive skate park but it’s turning into a bit of a huia as no one ever uses it as the kids all use the skate park down the road.” Origin. Maori.*

*Huia, noun, example: “Everyone should ride the train”. Yeah Right/Huia kidding?”*

Time to end the nonsense. It’d be cheaper and better for the environment to give each of those 35 people a free Tesla.

**Please share this article so that others can discover *The BFD***