Passengers were left to find rides on the side of State Highway 2 on Remutaka Hill after thier bus broke down. Photo / Dan Boerman
Passengers were left to find rides on the side of State Highway 2 on Remutaka Hill after thier bus broke down. Photo / Dan Boerman
Passengers were left stranded beside State Highway 2 on Remutaka Hill in Wellington after a bus broke down.
A father whose daughter was on board said he was horrified they were put in the path of holiday traffic.
“Not only was it a danger to passengers, but a danger to motorists too. It was simply reckless.”
Wellington’s public transport woes were on full display this morning when a double-decker bus was used as a train replacement service to the Wairarapa.
It left the capital’s central railway station just after 10am with about 80 people on board.
Dan Boerman was on the bus making the trip back to Martinborough to visit his mum for New Year’s Eve and help make one of her renowned lemon cheesecakes.
“The bus got up on the hill and before the incident, for about 10 minutes, it was crawling along. It didn’t look like it was moving, it was so slow.
“You could hear the engine was just having a really bad time.”
Boerman, who was sitting on the top level of the bus, said the bus then came to a stop, which he assumed was to let cars pass.
“About a minute later they tried restarting the bus and there was a brief half-second moment when the bus rolled backwards. Then it started inching forward about a metre and then it just stopped.”
Boerman said there was no communication from the driver to the upstairs passengers about what was going on.
Metlink has been approached for comment.
Passengers were left to walk up Remutaka Hill on the side of State Highway 2 after a bus broke down. Photo / Supplied
Boerman then looked out the window to find people from the lower level of the bus had hopped off and were walking along the side of the state highway.
He snapped a photo of them trailing up the hill with a slow vehicle bay sign in the foreground pointing in their direction.
“Unsure if Metlink has seen Final Destination, but not entirely safe making people walk over the hill,” Boerman posted on Facebook.
He and other passengers decided to get off the bus too.
“Kiwis being Kiwis, within two minutes there were five or six cars stopped on the side of the road. Everyone was hitching a ride and got their thumbs out.”
Boerman rang police because he was worried about those remaining being “sitting ducks” on the side of the road.
At some point the bus took off again, which Boerman suspected was only possible because its load was lighter. It’s understood some passengers got back on the bus at the top of the hill.
Boerman remained with four other people, two of whom were picked up by friends.
Police arrived and gave him and two young women a lift to the Wairarapa.
Boerman said he could laugh about the situation now, but he was quite worried about people’s safety at the time.
A police spokesperson confirmed police were notified about 11.15am that a double-decker bus had broken down on Remutaka Hill on the Hutt Valley side.
Greater Wellington Regional Council Transport Committee chairman Thomas Nash tweeted earlier today that travel on public transport was free today.
