Commuters waited for up to an hour in trains this morning after a power fault stopped them coming into Wellington Railway Station.
Service was disrupted when a fault affected about 1km of overhead power to six trains on the Melling and Hutt Valley lines about 8.45am. Hundreds of passengers were delayed.
Passengers were able to leave trains at stations or were transferred to other services and taken to nearby stations, where buses were arranged to take them on to Wellington.
Repairs are being carried out, while buses are replacing trains between Wellington and Porirua on the Paraparaumu line, and between Petone and Wellington on the Hutt Valley lines.
Overhead power has also been turned off on the Johnsonville line between Ngauranga and Wellington to allow for safe repairs.
"Although buses were arranged as soon as the fault happened, it took a little time to safely manage all passengers and shuttle them to Wellington," KiwiRail general manager rail passenger Ross Hayward said.
"Some passengers were held on trains while all power was isolated and made safe. We do try and get them to their destination as quickly as we can but must err on the side of caution.
"We apologise for the inconvenience but passengers can expect delays while the fault is repaired."
KiwiRail said overhead power repairs are progressing and are scheduled to finish mid-afternoon.
