'Disingenous': Questions arise over timing of Government train loan

Invercargill's mayor says ratepayers should not be asked to pay for a new train service, at a time when the government is asking councils to cut down on spending.

Winston Peters and Shane Jones announced yesterday that the government would be loaning some of the money to councils for a 12-month trial Mainlander train between Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill as a regular service.

The Regional Infrastructure Fund will provide a loan of $3.4 million to support the project, introducing regular services between Christchurch, Ashburton, Timaru, Oamaru, Dunedin, Gore and Invercargill starting in mid-2027.

Councils are yet to sign off on the project, but are expected to fund a $1.7 million gap in the budget.

Invercargill mayor Tom Campbell told RNZ it was not fair for ratepayers to be asked to fund a train service.

"We've got a government that tells us that we must not increase our rates behind a certain point.

"I'm afraid an invitation to support a train is not going to be well received here."

It was not clear how many councils would be expected to help fund the service, while the Government's announcement said letters of support had been received from Christchurch, Selwyn and Waimakariri so far.

Campbell said the loan announcement came as a surprise.

"You'd almost think there's a general election coming up."

A similar train line previously known as The Southerner operated from 1970 to 2002, before stopping due to low passenger numbers.

Campbell said the service had a better chance of succeeding today, as populations across the cities had increased.

However, he said the train service needed to stand up commercially, or not at all.

Campbell said a 12-month trial period - while better than nothing - was too short for ratepayers to invest in.

Invercargill councillor Ria Bond, who had been advocating for the service to return, said the timing of the loan was "disingenuous".

"It's great that they're hanging this carrot in front of us.

"At the same time, we're being penalised because government is blaming local councils for wastage of ratepayer money."

Bond - who was formerly a NZ First MP - said a trial period was unnecessary as it was already clear that there was a market for more public transport.

"I almost feel like we're being set up to fail."

Bond said the prospect of the train was fantastic, and would benefit those who couldn't drive, or were avoiding high petrol prices.