Auckland trains cancelled, delayed, KiwiRail bosses appear before select committee

Trains across the Auckland network are being cancelled and delayed again this afternoon, commuters have been warned.

It comes as KiwiRail bosses appeared in front of the Transport and Infrastructure Committee, where they faced pressing questions about recent chaos on Auckland’s commuter train network.

Auckland Transport (AT) said delays and cancellations are anticipated throughout the day – particularly on the Western Line, which had been reduced to a 20-minute frequency.

AT is still saying the reason for the delays is “speed restrictions” due to the heat and anticipates the delays will continue into the afternoon after more delays this morning.

Due to train speed restrictions, there will be some delays and cancellations to services today. Trains are still running on all lines at reduced frequencies.
Also, platform 2 at Britomart is back in service.
Scheduled buses accepting rail tickets and AT hop cards on all lines. pic.twitter.com/Ot53NdyXMj

— Auckland Transport Travel Alerts (@AT_TravelAlerts) February 14, 2024

Holidaymakers hoping to escape the city and its transport woes are also being affected today with multiple bus cancellations on Waiheke Island.

Routes 500, 501, 502 and 503 have all been affected by cancellations which are vital services to and from the ferry terminal.

Until 3pm today (Thursday 15 February 2024), there are bus cancellations on Waiheke Island due to staff matters for Routes 50A, 50B, 501, 502, 503. Please plan your journey on the AT Mobile App for the latest information. pic.twitter.com/qsByOvWqaW

— Auckland Transport Travel Alerts (@AT_TravelAlerts) February 14, 2024

Auckland commuters were warned that weeks of disruption were possible after dozens of trains were cancelled on Monday due to heat restrictions limiting the speed the city’s trains could travel.

KiwiRail announced yesterday that it will be undertaking an “aggressive plan” to fix the section of track on Auckland’s rail network subject to heat restrictions this week.

It came after a meeting Mayor Wayne Brown hosted with rail bosses from AT, KiwiRail, Auckland One Rail and the office of the Minister of Transport about the troubled network.

“A range of issues were discussed that have been affecting passenger rail services, which include heat restrictions, temporary speed restrictions, delays caused by a transition to a new signalling system at Britomart for the City Rail Link, multiple point failures, staff shortages and poor communication to customers,” a statement from the mayor read.

Brown said the meeting focused on the actions required to fix the problems, beginning with KiwiRail carrying out an “aggressive plan” to fix the 4.4km sections of track affected by this week’s heat restrictions.

This would reduce the amount of track subject to such restrictions to less than 1km of rail and “drastically reduce disruption to Auckland commuters”.

Brown had previously warned the bosses would receive a “bollocking” but said the meeting went “surprisingly well”.

On Tuesday, AT said potentially one in three train services will be cancelled and the commuter chaos could continue until March.

AT director of public transport Stacey van der Putten said trains had not stopped, but potentially every third train would be cancelled at peak hours.

Van der Putten said off-peak trains ran at a frequency that was not affected by the restrictions, but during the peak hours when trains are running every 10 minutes, the services had to be staggered.

Rachel Maher is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. She has worked for the Herald since 2022.