Frustrated rugby fans booed passing trains at Eden Park last night as delays to city-bound services left thousands queuing after the All Blacks thrashed the Wallabies.
The All Blacks won 50-19 last night to keep the Bledisloe Cup and extend their unbeaten run at Eden Park to 54 tests.
But many of the sold-out crowd then faced a confusing wait to get home.
One described "huge queues to get into the city and not a single train".
They said in the time three trains had left for Ōtāhuhu, none had left for the city, and two trains marked “out of service” had passed through the station.
“They keep saying ‘5 mins’,” they said. "Shocker".
Another said the situation was “munted”, saying the crowd started booing passing trains.
"It's my first time using the train to get to an event, won't be doing that again in a hurry," another woman said.
1News understands crowds around Kingsland Station were cleared by 10.15pm, within usual timeframes for a sold-out Eden Park test. But that came after some gave up waiting and abandoned plans to catch a train amid heavy crowds.
Have footage or were in the crowd? Email news@tvnz.co.nz
Auckland Transport (AT) issued an alert at 9.27pm saying there were delays at Kingsland Station for East West line trains heading towards the city centre and east.
It directed fans to special event buses, saying they had shorter wait times.
Another alert later suggested city-bound passengers take a South-City line train from platform one and transfer trains to get to the city centre.
Witnesses said South-City line trains had been quieter, and citybound trains moved people once they arrived but were slow to reach the station.
Half the platforms
Last night’s test was the first time AT had run direct southern trains from Kingsland after a match, under a new plan introduced since the City Rail Link (CRL) opened.
The $5.5 billion train tunnel and new stations opened a week ago to much fanfare. (Source: 1News)
At previous All Blacks tests, both of the station's platforms were used for trains heading to the city. Under the new plan, one platform was dedicated to trains bound for Ōtāhuhu instead. Meanwhile, the citybound trains headed for the CRL used platform two.
On Thursday, AT operations centre event planning lead Todd Hurley said fans should expect queues after the final whistle at the game.
"Just like sporting events around the world customers should still expect queues and busy crowds as 50,000 people will be leaving the match at once," he said.
"A six-car train can carry about 1000 people, so it takes time for each train to load."
Te Waihorotiu, Karanga-a-Hape and Maungawhau were opened yesterday. (Source: 1News)
The sold-out crowd watched the All Blacks beat the Wallabies 50-19, extending their unbeaten run at Eden Park to 54 tests.
Fans with match tickets had free bus and train travel from 3pm.
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