KEY POINTS:
Auckland's fragile rail network suffered another blow yesterday until technicians could locate and fix a signalling fault, again linked to track duplication work.
Trains ran 30 minutes late on the western line through the morning travel peak, after which rail operator Veolia Transport brought in buses to shuttle passengers for several hours between New Lynn and Waitemata.
The trouble followed a fiendish day on Monday in which rail services were disrupted by several faults.
Government rail agency Ontrack said it managed to provide an "interim" fix to the latest signalling fault yesterday and intended working through the weekend towards a permanent solution.
Chief executive David George said heavy machinery duplicating a 7.3km section of the western line between Titirangi Rd and Henderson had compacted ground over a signals cable, which became contaminated by rainwater leaching from dirty ballast material.
He said workers spent Wednesday night washing the ballast and would use the weekend to "give it a good cleanout".
Mr George said he regretted the frustration faced by Auckland rail passengers, which he could not guarantee was over, but promised a more reliable rail service once the western line was fully duplicated.
Although that would take until 2009, he said completing the Titirangi Rd to Henderson sector within the next three months would give Veolia greater ability to recover from any disruption caused along other parts of the line.
"Clearly the network is run down, which is why we are spending $600 million fixing it up," he said.
Rail passengers are continuing to regale the Herald with stories from Monday's disruption, including the saga of 36 kindergarten children and their parents and teachers, some of whom spent almost three hours on a train from Britomart to Sturges Rd, near Henderson.
Parent Kim Garner, whose husband and 4-year-old son caught the train from Newmarket at 12.43am, criticised officials for letting such a large group of youngsters on to the train during such major disruption to services.
