Phil Mauger is hopeful that trackless trams will give Greater Christchurch a version of mass rapid transit which was much cheaper than alternatives.
Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger says he and city council staff are working towards a trial of trackless trams, and an early proposal may be just a few months away.
However, the preferred supplier butted heads with Auckland Transport just a year ago – causing an Auckland trial to be cancelled – and it is possible Christchurch will be forced to buy the vehicle outright.
While politicians have described trackless trams as “cutting edge”, one Christchurch-based transport professional says itis more likely a “sub-par” option for a city this size. Mauger, who has long been enthusiastic about trackless trams – both he and Waimakariri mayor Dan Gordon have a model tram from China Rail in their offices – recently told The Press he has been working in the background on the idea with staff.“I’d love to actually go and buy one \[a trackless tram] and try it,” he said. \
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Auckland Transport, however, said last year that buying the vehicle would be unreasonable for ratepayers.
The trackless tram, which looks like a long bus and is built by Chinese company China Rail, travels by road at a maximum of 70km per hour. It could take about 200 people, about four times the capacity of a standard bus.
Mauger, who said information would be ready to share with councillors in the next three or four months, did not know how much the trial would cost. A trial in Auckland with the same company was expected to cost around $1.5 million and only operate one day a week.That trial was cancelled last year, after China Rail told Auckland Transport shortly before it began that they would need to buy or lease the vehicle once the demonstration was complete.
It is unclear how much the vehicle would cost to purchase.In a statement, an unnamed Christchurch City Council spokesperson said no budget had been committed to a trackless tram trial.
Mauger and Gordon have both said a perk was the trams could be moved to different roads if the demand called for it.
Published in [The Press on 11 March 2026](https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/360967449/cutting-edge-or-overpriced-maugers-trackless-tram-proposal-just-months-away) \
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For further reading concerning the points raised in this opinion –
* [Future of passenger rail in New Zealand is regional rail](https://publictransportforum.nz/articles/article/the-future-of-passenger-rail-in-new-zealand-is-regional-rail-07-07-2025/)
* [Time for a national public transport network](https://www.publictransportforum.nz/articles/article/national-public-transport-network-07-06-2022)
