Auckland commuters are needing to be rerouted as “track and system issues” cause delays and cancellations of trains across the city.
Auckland Transport (AT) announced today there will be cancellations and delays on all train lines.
The Eastern line train service was running between Manukau and The Strand, rather than between Manukau and Waitematā (Britomart) Station.
At about 5pm, KiwiRail said the fault had been rectified and services were operating on its normal route at a 20 minute frequency. The Southern line train service was also operating at a 20 minute frequency.
The Western line train service was “suspended between Newmarket and Waitematā”. However, services were running between Swanson and Newmarket, AT said.
The Onehunga line remained “suspended until further notice”.
There are buses running between Newmarket and Waitematā from 2pm today, AT said.
The first four months of 2024 have seen trains cancelled multiple times, for train faults, heated rails and track issues.
What is causing these delays?
KiwiRail’s general manager Metros Jon Knight told 1News there were two issues at Waitematā today, which led to the delays and cancellations.
“Around midday a signals outage in Britomart meant we had to individually direct trains to Britomart platforms. The signals were reset but for about an hour and 20 minutes train movements in and out of the station were slowed.
“We then had damage to a set of points, which stopped trains reaching two of the station’s three operational platforms. The points allow trains to change between tracks and access platforms.
Knight said the points had been “secured” and that two platforms at Waitematā can now be used.
“We will be working overnight to repair the points.”
Knight said KiwiRail “moved quickly to manage the situation and reduce disruption for afternoon and evening commuters as much as we can” and apologised for the disruption.
“We are investigating both Britomart issues to understand the causes and avoid them being repeated.”