Christchurch Mayor Phil Mauger has backed New Zealand First’s promise of a 12 month commuter rail trial between Rolleston, Rangiora and central Christchurch.

The party announced the policy during a visit to Christchurch by leader Winston Peters on Sunday. It would run trains on existing rail lines to test demand before committing to a permanent network.

Mauger said the announcement was great to hear and he fully supported trialling options such as commuter rail to give people alternatives to driving. It was important to give things a go to see whether they worked, he said.

Under the plan, trains would run into the city and stop near Colombo Street. New Zealand First said the trip from Rolleston could take about 20 minutes, compared with up to 50 minutes by road at peak times.

“A permanent commuter railway can’t be built on wishful thinking. It needs passengers, it needs to make economic sense,” the party said.

“We are not proposing to spend years and millions of dollars studying whether Cantabrians might catch a train. We will put the trains on. The rest is up to Canterbury.”

The party has not said how much the trial would cost, how often trains would run or when it would start.

New Zealand First also pledged to bring back the Southerner passenger service to Dunedin and Invercargill. That train ran between Christchurch and Invercargill for more than 31 years before it was scrapped in February 2002 because of falling passenger numbers.

The party said it would also seek a commercially viable deal with the operators of the Mainlander to add more train services in the South Island.

Commuter rail into Christchurch has been debated for years. An earlier transport assessment found rail between Rolleston and Rangiora could play a role in future but favoured better bus services in the short to medium term. In 2025, Environment Canterbury agreed to work with KiwiRail on a business case for passenger rail on the corridor.