Wellington train service cancelled

Transport woes continued this morning for Wellington train commuters, with a service from Taita in the Lower Hutt being cancelled due to mechanical problems.

KiwiRail spokesman Kevin Ramshaw told NZPA the cancellation did not cause big problems, as it was an early service.

"There are trains going through there all the time because it's on the Hutt Valley line, so there were alternative trains to take," he said.

"I don't think that had any material effect on the network. Everything else is running fine."

The latest fault followed major delays last night, which led to commuters being stranded for hours.

A signal power fault earlier in the day, which forced a reduction in services, was fixed about 6pm but a train then broke down near Kaiwharawhara, a few kilometres north of the city, about 7pm.

Some commuters were delayed up to 2-1/2 hours, Mr Ramshaw said.

Those disruptions came only a day after the line between Upper Hutt and Wairarapa was brought back into service after being out for three days when a train hit a slip and was derailed.

Mr Ramshaw was apologetic about the disruptions but said vehicle commuters could also strike major delays from time to time.

"What would happen if you were stuck in a queue of traffic and you couldn't move on the roads?

"Can you tell me what the difference is?

"Transport is transport. All transport from time to time has its moments when you cannot get to where you want to go."

Passengers would not be given a refund but "compensation of some kind" would be considered. In the past, KiwiRail has run such things as "Free Fridays" and monthly ticket discounts.

"Obviously that's something we will consider again. 'Consider' is the operative word," he said.

The faults were put down to a combination of an ageing fleet and ongoing upgrades on the network which could create problems.

- NZPA