The increasing number of families swapping the station wagon for the railway station, that Minister of Transport Chris Bishop recently praised in a speech , could soon find that the station wagon is cheaper than the station.
Bus and train fares could increase by as much as 500% in some regions of New Zealand if local councils have to meet new targets set by the government’s transport agency, official information documents revealed to Stuff have shown.
The Bay of Plenty may need to increase fares of up to 517% to meet the proposed 2026/2027 target while Hawke’s Bay Regional Council will increase the percentage of private share,from 9.4% in this 2024-2025 financial year to 11.5% in 2025-2026 and then 13.1% in 2026-2027.
“This increase in private share will be met by consistent fare increases of 5% per year along with initiatives designed to stimulate patronage such as targeted marketing; the introduction of the National Ticketing Solution (NTS) in September, and the implementation of the planned new network (likely to be rolled out no earlier than Q1 2026),” a statement form the council said.
