On Wednesday, Port Chalmers residents were unable to board their regular public bus as it was fully loaded with cruise ship passengers from the Celebrity Eclipse.
The issue had residents questioning why the passenger train for visitors was no longer running and Port Otago said its return would help alleviate the issue.
A Dunedin Railways spokeswoman said it was working with KiwiRail and Port Otago to get its train directly to the port for customers who had pre-booked on the Taieri Gorge excursion.
This would free up chartered buses for other users.
KiwiRail executive general manager operations Paul Ashton said it was in ongoing discussions with Dunedin Railways about access to the network for a Port Chalmers to Dunedin service.
Otago Regional Council interim transport manager Doug Rodgers confirmed the overloading of passengers on public transport on Wednesday was caused by visitors who used the public system as a preference to the private shuttles.
"I understand the costs difference was substantial."
Work was being done on the capacity of the routes to ensure regular public transport users were not adversely effected.
Celebrity Cruises, which operates the Celebrity Eclipse, did not respond to a request for comment yesterday.
