Auckland's train system has faced more problems this morning as mayor Wayne Brown says he's about to give the transport bosses involved a "bloody good bollocking".
In an update before 9am, Auckland Transport (AT) told passengers to expect delays and cancellations across all lines as two train platforms were out of service at Britomart.
"Onehunga Line services have been cancelled between Newmarket and Penrose stations, due to the earlier KiwiRail infrastructure issue near Britomart. Western Line services have been cancelled between Britomart and Newmarket until further notice.
"Two Kiwi Coach buses will be running between Newmarket and Britomart stations. Train services across the network are experiencing delays of up to 20 minutes."
Services began running to the two platforms again at around 10.20am, according to AT.
KiwiRail metros general manager Jon Knight said the agency's crews worked quickly to fix the infrastructure problem in just over an hour.
"At 8.40am, this morning there was an issue with the points — which allow trains to switch between tracks — at the entrance to Britomart, which stopped trains from accessing two of the station platforms," he said in a statement.
"Our team worked quickly to make repairs and the issue was fixed by around 10am.
"Britomart is a crucial part of the city's rail network and we apologise to Aucklanders for the disruption this caused.
"We are investigating the root cause of the issue and will take any steps required to make sure it is not repeated."
The latest travel warning follows a tortured series of weeks for train users with unplanned disruptions occurring nearly every weekday — many resulting from heat-related track restrictions.
Yesterday, AT officials said KiwiRail speed restrictions are expected to continue on parts of the train network over the next several weeks and into March.
In a radio interview today, Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown said he was preparing for a meeting with the three organisations involved with running the city's trains.
It came after he sent a blistering letter to the three transport CEOs involved in running the city's trains — AT's Dean Kimpton, KiwiRail's Peter Reidy, and Auckland One Rail's Martin Kearney.
"The three of them are gonna be in the room and they're going to get a bloody good bollocking from me," he said today.
In his letter, Brown described the situation as an "omnishambles".
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