KEY POINTS:
Amy Gowland was spared passengers' fury on her first day of platform duties as an information "ambassador" on Auckland's notorious western rail line.
On-time trains took passengers and guards alike by surprise on Thursday morning, giving the 23-year-old Englishwoman an easy start at busy New Lynn station as she began a year-long working holiday.
"Due to unforeseen circumstances, we are running on time," joked a crew member on the packed 7.28am train from New Lynn, as it pulled out of the station.
But not everybody was so chuffed at the sudden outbreak of punctuality, after weeks of disruption caused by multimillion-dollar track duplication work between New Lynn and Henderson.
"It's a bit annoying," said one commuter, arriving minutes later to find she had missed her train.
"I've been relying on them to be late."
The woman was the closest Ms Gowland came to a dissatisfied customer in her first hours as one of five information staff posted to western line stations to relay information about train delays and cancellations.
Although speed restrictions later in the day caused delays of up to 20 minutes, Ms Gowland said she had yet to encounter a truly irate passenger.
"I think they are just glad to be informed," she said.
She had been in New Zealand only a week, but had experience of calming testy customers from her time as a London restaurant manager.
She said she had been well-briefed on Auckland's rail system and was in constant phone contact with Veolia Transport's operations centre and information ambassadors further up the line, including her partner Rob Killner, who spent an even quieter day at neighbouring Fruitvale Station.
But the information network, established at the beginning of last week at the height of customer dissatisfaction, has had its teething problems.
Officials posted to the end of the line, at the tiny Waitakere Station, were issued with Telecom mobile phones after finding themselves out of the Vodafone network's coverage area and unable to tell furious passengers when the next train was coming.
But Veolia spokeswoman Tessa Marjoram said Thursday was one of the operator's better days.
