Five-hour trip from Hamilton to Auckland: Signal issue causes delay on Te Huia train

Te Huia passenger train. Photo / Supplied

A signal issue is to blame for a two-hour delay on the Te Huia train from Hamilton.

Auckland Transport posted on social media that all trains on the Pukekohe line have been cancelled due to train issues on Te Huia, and two rail replacement buses will run between Papakura and Pukekohe.

Sharon Holt, a passenger on the te Huia train, told the Herald she had just managed to get off at Papakura after boarding the train at 6am – a commute of almost five hours.

The delay had been two hours in total. But Holt says the communication from staff was amazing.

"There were at least two different people updating us all individually about what was happening, and the communication was very clear."

She was told a signal fault meant the barrier arms on roads were not coming down, so the train could not safely proceed to its destination.

"About five minutes out from Papakura we just stopped."

Despite the long delay, she says morale was high and most people were in good spirits.

"A few people were a bit stressed at missing meetings and things like that, and in the last half hour some children got a bit upset but it was fine for the most part."