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Auckland's rail system hit by cancellations

Author
NZME staff,
Publish Date
Thu, 31 Mar 2016, 8:15am
A fault is causing major disruptions to train services between Britomart and Newmarket. Photo / File
A fault is causing major disruptions to train services between Britomart and Newmarket. Photo / File

Auckland's rail system hit by cancellations

Author
NZME staff,
Publish Date
Thu, 31 Mar 2016, 8:15am

UPDATED 8.46AM A stalled train between Newmarket and Britomart stations is causing commuter delays in Auckland this morning.

The train has now been removed but a backlog of passengers are still struggling to get into Britomart.

A passenger on the stalled train said they had been stuck about 150m down from the Newmarket station for about an hour.

Power went out just before 7am and the train only started moving again just before 8am.

"The brakes slammed down and it's been rebooting over the past hour. The power comes on, then goes off again. The air con turns on, then it's out.

"People are annoyed, but there's nothing we can do about it.''

Auckland Transport is releasing up-to-date information for passengers travelling on other trains.

Trains coming to downtown Auckland on the Southern Line are being diverted to the Eastern Line. Train shuttles are operating between the Penrose and Newmarket stations.

Trains on the Southern Line face a 20-minute delay and those on the Eastern Line are delayed by up to 10 minutes. Trains on the Onehunga Line are running from Onehunga to Penrose.

Trains on the Western Line are stopping in Newmarket and buses are taking passengers to Britomart.

Auckland Transport said rail tickets and AT Hop cards would be accepted on all scheduled buses. However, passengers were being encouraged to find alternative transport.

Auckland Transport spokesman Mark Hannan said all trains into Britomart are now back operating but that there are still delays as the services catch up.

He said there are no extra buses operating this morning as a result of this morning's train fault.

Passengers contacting the Herald this morning are reporting bus shuttle services are full and many people are still waiting to get on a bus in to downtown Auckland.

"I was affected coming in from the Western Line,'' Louise King said.

"Had a train person come along and tell us that we had stopped at Morningside station and could get off to wait for a Rail bus. Managed to get on another bus service but it was jammed packed - so many people not knowing what to do or where to go, looking very lost,'' she said.

Another passenger was on a train that got stuck at the Kingsland station.

She said about 50 people got off the train and had been waiting for a bus since before 8am.

"All buses going past are already full,'' she said.

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