Disney balloons not allowed on trains, say Auckland train bosses

Dornia Silupe-Ulumani's balloon was not allowed on a train. Photo / Doug Sherring

Safety reasons cited for balloon ban.

She comes from the happiest place on earth, but Minnie Mouse - at least the helium-filled version of the 87-year-old cartoon character - isn't welcome on Auckland trains.

Helium-filled balloons have been banned on the city's freshly electrified rail network, as some stunned Disney on Ice-goers discovered yesterday.

Auckland Transport spokesman Mark Hannan said the balloons were banned because they could float into overhead wires, cause them to arc and cut power to the network.

"It's a safety issue. They have caused accidents overseas."

Tell that to 5-year-old Dornia Silupe-Ulumani. Her Minnie Mouse balloon, bought by grandmother Maryanne Rawiri, had to take the bus home to Manukau.

Passengers were told by security at Auckland's Britomart station that they could not board trains with balloons bought at Disney On Ice. Photo / Doug Sherring

The pair and Dornia's mother, Wilana, were among the families which the

Herald on Sunday

saw being turned away from Britomart Train Station, in downtown Auckland, after yesterday's Disney on Ice performance.

Rawiri couldn't believe the family's misfortune.

"I just paid $20 for that balloon. A bit more notice by the transport people and the people selling them would've been nice. There's heaps of people with balloons."

The family, like all those spoken to by the Herald on Sunday, found alternative transport rather than throwing away their kids' new treasures.

Linda Johns was stopped by security because granddaughter Sakura Kirk-Johns, 8, had a Rapunzel balloon tied around her wrist.

"I'm gutted, but it's fair enough. I think I might be ringing my husband to pick me up because I'm not throwing away a $10 balloon."

Another parent, who would not be named, was also turned away because of her 3-year-old daughter's Minnie Mouse balloon.

"It's annoying and frustrating but I guess they have things put in place for a reason.

"If it is a hazard maybe something should be put in place so a balloon can't cause a problem."

The pair and another relative caught a bus to their Te Atatu home but, in a rotten case of bad luck, the balloon slipped out of the woman's hand as she got off the bus.

"It went up in the air. That's Murphy's Law."

Hannan said the ban had been in place for several months and there were signs warning travellers at Britomart.

Press releases before last year's Santa Parade also alerted parents to the ban, but not this week because Disney on Ice was a private event.