Commuter chaos in Wellington

File photo / NZ Herald

It was chaos for commuters in Wellington this morning following train service outages and vehicle crashes.

Train services were suspended between Wellington and Porirua until further notice, after a tree fell onto overhead power lines near Takapu Road Station in Tawa yesterday.

This morning limited buses replaced trains between Wellington and Porirua, and customers were encouraged to make alternative travel arrangements.

Tranz Metro said the incident had caused significant damage to around 100 metres of overhead cabling, which caused a power outage on the rail network in the area.

It said KiwiRail infrastructure engineers were on-site working to remove the damaged tree and train from the site last night and the crew would then work to repair any damage and replace the cabling.

At this stage, it was unknown when services would resume.

Meanwhile, southbound traffic travelling from Porirua to Wellington on State Highway 1 was blocked up following a crash just south of the Mungavin intersection.

The New Zealand Transport Agency said on Twitter that congestion had since eased, and the travel time from Porirua to Wellington City was now estimated to be 24 minutes.

However the Transport Agency advised motorists to expect more delays this evening.

"Expect heavy traffic this evening. Maybe twist the boss' arm into letting you leave early or head to that cafe down the road."