There's hope that the Te Huia train service from Hamilton to Auckland is on track for more funding after July.
An interim performance assessment of the past two years shows increased demand with targets for 250 passengers a day on weekdays and 100 on the weekend being achieved.
It's also meeting its net emissions goal 80 percent of the time.
Waikato regional councillor Angela Strange says the service has been exceeding established targets.
"What the report doesn't show is that since we've added new services, we're smashing those targets out of the room."
LISTEN ABOVE

Enda Brady: UK correspondent speaks ahead of Trump appearance at NATO summit
03:54

Hamish McKay: The Country spokesperson on the impacts of the rain in Kaikōura
03:25

The Huddle: Should we be worried about China?
09:29