Train services cancelled across Auckland due to KiwiRail power outage Train services cancelled across Auckland due to KiwiRail power outage

Date: 5 May 2023

Please attribute this statement to AT Group Manager Metro Services Darek Koper 

This morning a significant fault with KiwiRail’s overhead power lines at Grafton has forced our rail team to cancel services across Auckland’s passenger rail network.

We are advised that KiwiRail will fix this issue in the next hour or two but unfortunately there will still be flow-on cancellations and delays all morning as a result of the enormous disruption to our services so far.

Tens of thousands of Aucklanders rely on our rail network every day to get to school, work and to access essential services. It hugely disappointing and frustrating that we are not able to operate our services as usual this morning.

Because of the short notice of this outage our teams have only been able to arrange for a small number of rail replacement buses, so we’re encouraging our train customers to consider using one of our scheduled bus services instead this morning.

Once power has been restored today and our trains are up and running we will be seeking more detailed answers from KiwiRail about the cause of this morning’s outage and what steps they will take to prevent such issues happening again in future.

Details of this morning’s cancellations

Currently all services on the Western and Onehunga lines are cancelled because there is no power along these lines due to the power issue at Grafton. At this stage we have only been able to source one rail replacement bus for each of these lines.

Services on the Southern and Eastern lines are running as far as Ōtahuhu, with a limited number of rail replacement buses operating between Ōtahuhu and Britomart. Rail Replacement buses on the Eastern Line due to KiwiRail’s Rail Network Rebuild closure are operating as normal today.