Auckland commuters can breathe a sigh of relief - a week-long cancellation of some bus services has been lifted.
It emerged early last night that most central bus services in the city were to be suspended amid deadlocked talks between unions and operator NZ Bus.
Auckland Transport (AT) has told customers that all bus services operated by the city's largest operator would be "cancelled until further notice" from Friday.
It was to affect around 35% of routes in the city.
However, AT has now said strike action had been withdrawn and the service suspension lifted.
Auckland Transport executive general manager for public transport services Stacey van der Putten said the latest update would be a relief for commuters.
“I want to thank NZ Bus and representatives from Tramways and FIRST Union for bringing what would have been significant period of disruption and uncertainty for Aucklanders to an end,” van der Putten said.
“If the suspension of NZ Bus services or strike action had continued next week it would have affected up to 4,000 bus trips each weekday, disrupting the daily commutes of tens of thousands of Aucklanders, including thousands of school children."
NZ Bus had said drivers indicating they would turn off the ticketing system had forced it to suspend them without pay, and stop many services.
The HOP system would now be in operation as normal.
“NZ Bus, Tramways and FIRST Union have agreed to continue discussions to complete their collective bargaining process and AT looks forward to this leading to positive outcomes for drivers and Auckland bus users," van der Putten said.
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