Rail services are returning to normal in Auckland after a power failure brought many rush-hour trains to a standstill earlier this evening.
KiwiRail chief operations officer Siva Sivapakkiam told 1News that the cause of the power outage was a short-circuit on part of the 28km line between Penrose and Papakura.
"The overhead lines between Westfield (south of Penrose Station) and Papakura were short-circuited (tripped) just before 4.50pm this afternoon, which automatically turned off power to that section of the Southern Line," he said.
"It was caused by a fault with an AT electric train travelling on that section of line.
"KiwiRail switched the power back on at about 5.35pm. Reduced services are able to run between Papakura and Penrose while the disabled electric train is removed."
Auckland Transport said in a tweet that train services were returning to normal but with delays and cancellations expected on the Southern and Eastern Lines.
"Scheduled buses will accept rail tickets on the Southern and Eastern Lines," it said.
The rush hour chaos comes weeks after a flurry of failures across the rail network in Auckland and Wellington.
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