January 12, 2026
The return of a South Island passenger train is oil in the lamp for local rail transport supporters.
The “Mainlander” train will connect Christchurch to Timaru, Dunedin and Invercargill once a month.
Its first trip is set for January 20 to the 23, with an adult one-way full ride costing $229.
Rail and Tourism Group chief executive Paul Jackson said long-distance rail will deliver region-wide benefits and offer those travelling between cities a new way to see the country.
“We will continue to work with the major South Island cities to identify, develop and support regional rail and tourism opportunities.”
Rail and Tourism Group are also behind the proposed Events Express Train, a service for those in Rolleston, Rangiora and potentially Ashburton who want to head to the Garden City for major shows or games.
Save Our Trains spokesperson Dave Macpherson said the trains were a step towards regular passenger rail, but still far from accessible.
“We’ve had people doubt us and say, ‘there’re no facilities for passengers anymore;’ this puts that to bed,” he said.
“[But] the price is high, the timing’s too slow, two days to get— it’s a tourist train.
“It’s not what we’re after, which is a scheduled passenger train that runs on a daily or close-to-daily basis.”
He said Save Our Trains would vouch for making the Southerner a private train.
“It doesn’t have to be KiwiRail; If we could get approval from the government to get the type of service we’re talking about started, [private companies] could put in a bid to be operators of the service.”
The concept of the Events Express is brilliant, he said, but short-sighted.
“One of the problems we’ve seen with Christchurch train ideas, in our humble opinion, is that they don’t think outside of the Christchurch metro area.
“We’re a bit annoyed they’re not even including Ashburton and Timaru, which are in the same region.
“Still, that would be more of a step in the right direction.”
Local advocate Lal Mulligan agreed the Mainlander was a tourist train.
“It's designed for tourism, yeah, and it's unaffordable.
“I suspect that the Mainlander train is looking at what uptake it will have from local people.”
She remembers travelling by passenger rail in the 70s while studying at a Christchurch boarding school.
But her justification for bringing back commuter trains goes beyond nostalgia.
“There are so many advantages; we've got an ageing population, a lot of people don't like to drive now on our busy roads; people with disabilities who find buses don't suit them; it's costly to fly.”
She also said trains would help the government get on track with climate change reduction.
Support from the community has been high, though there are nay-sayers.
“People who are a wee bit negative say, ‘but what do you do when you get off the train and Christchurch?’.
“Public transport is just great, but we don't have it. And so people in Ashburton are a bit inclined to worry about it.”
While pushing for the Southerner, Mulligan has also been advocating to get Ashburton-specific public transport, like buses to and from the district's smaller towns.
But for now, a waiting game – the organisation’s submission has been sent to the Transport and Infrastructure committee, and a hearing date is yet to be confirmed.
By Anisha Satya
The return of a South Island passenger train is oil in the lamp for local rail transport supporters.
The “Mainlander” train will connect Christchurch to Timaru, Dunedin and Invercargill once a month.
Its first trip is set for January 20 to the 23, with an adult one-way full ride costing $229.
Rail and Tourism Group chief executive Paul Jackson said long-distance rail will deliver region-wide benefits and offer those travelling between cities a new way to see the country.
“We will continue to work with the major South Island cities to identify, develop and support regional rail and tourism opportunities.”
Rail and Tourism Group are also behind the proposed Events Express Train, a service for those in Rolleston, Rangiora and potentially Ashburton who want to head to the Garden City for major shows or games.
Save Our Trains spokesperson Dave Macpherson said the trains were a step towards regular passenger rail, but still far from accessible.
“We’ve had people doubt us and say, ‘there’re no facilities for passengers anymore;’ this puts that to bed,” he said.
“[But] the price is high, the timing’s too slow, two days to get— it’s a tourist train.
“It’s not what we’re after, which is a scheduled passenger train that runs on a daily or close-to-daily basis.”
He said Save Our Trains would vouch for making the Southerner a private train.
“It doesn’t have to be KiwiRail; If we could get approval from the government to get the type of service we’re talking about started, [private companies] could put in a bid to be operators of the service.”
The concept of the Events Express is brilliant, he said, but short-sighted.
“One of the problems we’ve seen with Christchurch train ideas, in our humble opinion, is that they don’t think outside of the Christchurch metro area.
“We’re a bit annoyed they’re not even including Ashburton and Timaru, which are in the same region.
“Still, that would be more of a step in the right direction.”
Local advocate Lal Mulligan agreed the Mainlander was a tourist train.
“It's designed for tourism, yeah, and it's unaffordable.
“I suspect that the Mainlander train is looking at what uptake it will have from local people.”
She remembers travelling by passenger rail in the 70s while studying at a Christchurch boarding school.
But her justification for bringing back commuter trains goes beyond nostalgia.
“There are so many advantages; we've got an ageing population, a lot of people don't like to drive now on our busy roads; people with disabilities who find buses don't suit them; it's costly to fly.”
She also said trains would help the government get on track with climate change reduction.
Support from the community has been high, though there are nay-sayers.
“People who are a wee bit negative say, ‘but what do you do when you get off the train and Christchurch?’.
“Public transport is just great, but we don't have it. And so people in Ashburton are a bit inclined to worry about it.”
While pushing for the Southerner, Mulligan has also been advocating to get Ashburton-specific public transport, like buses to and from the district's smaller towns.
But for now, a waiting game – the organisation’s submission has been sent to the Transport and Infrastructure committee, and a hearing date is yet to be confirmed.
By Anisha Satya
