Passengers exit the derailed Britomart train that caused public transport issues throughout Auckland. / Supplied by Dylan Surti
Auckland commuters who typically jump on a train at Britomart Station to head home from work will need a Plan B this evening, with the station remaining closed overnight.
Britomart has been closed since this morning, when a train derailed just out of the station.
Auckland Transport said it will be closed overnight as the Transport Accident Investigation Commission investigates.
There would be delays and changes to where trains depart and arrive this afternoon and tomorrow morning.
It is currently unclear when normal services will be back in operation.
UPDATE: Britomart Station will remain closed tonight. This afternoon and tomorrow morning there will be delays and changes to where trains depart and arrive. Services will run on a 20 min frequency. Info here, and more updates to follow: https://t.co/dBd8RjC73Thttps://t.co/kvSRAzaSww
Onehunga Line services will run as a shuttle between Onehunga and Penrose, linking to Southern Line services.
Auckland Transport spokesman Mark Hannan said while he couldn't talk about the investigation, there was no indication of a fault with the train itself.
Scores of people turned up to Britomart station only to find it closed this morning. Photo / Michael Nielson
Britomart Station would open again only upon instruction from the Transport Accident Investigation Commission, he said.
"That will happen when they hand it back to us and tell us we can commence operations again."
Hannan said alternative transport options had been arranged for those whose travel home was disrupted this evening.
He did not expect the closure would result in traffic being particularly bad tomorrow morning.
If the weather was nice, he expected many commuters would be happy to walk from The Strand - which is not far from Britomart.
Dozens of commuters were left shaken this morning when three carriages derailed as the train was leaving the station.
Scared passengers later described the accident as a sudden shake "like a small earthquake".
@nzherald@AklTransport waiting in the Britomart tunnel for evacuation plan after possible derailment and suspected points system failure. Time to kill so may as well tweet! pic.twitter.com/Okoymb4WNS
Passenger Charles Stewart said everything was going smoothly and then there was a sudden shake "like a small earthquake" as the train came off the tracks.
AUT student Kirstin Elphick was on board when the train derailed and felt "absolutely freaked out" when the brakes slammed on.
"It felt like it was going really, really fast. All of a sudden it stopped."
The train looked like it was leaning against the tunnel, Elphick said.
It was "really annoying" that more information was not provided before the passengers got off the carriage, she said, as they had no idea how long they would be there for.
