"We hit something that felt very big and there was a metallic grinding sound. It also seems as though the train is on a lean," the passenger told the Spinoff.
They said passengers were getting tired and had been kept in the dark as to what was going on.
"The staff have been walking up and down, getting increasingly agitated (at the passengers and in general). No one has provided us with any information," they said.
"People are hungry, tired and need the bathroom. The mood is very frustrated and people are clearly losing patience. The air is stale and it really stinks."
However, an Auckland Transport spokesman said staff had told passengers "every piece" of information once it became available.
Passengers were also kept on the train partly because it was dangerous to walk along the tracks back to Meadowbank Station and partly because it was not known what the train had hit, he said.
"It was dark and the 700m walk along train tracks would not have been a safe way for the train manager to get 52 passengers back to the station," he said.
"Safety was our paramount concern. we understand this would have been incredibly frustrating for passengers and we apologise for the time it took to get the train moving."
He said Auckland Transport would ensure "the comfort of passengers is given more priority".
