Connex promises more seats on test trains

Auckland rail company Connex says it will have far more capacity on its trains to carry thousands of passengers to Eden Park for the third test on Saturday.

The company said yesterday that the reason up to 700 fans arrived at the park 10 minutes after the start of Auckland's Tuesday night's game against the Lions was a delay at Newmarket after a passenger who "felt faint" pushed an emergency stop button.

Spokeswoman Tessa Marjoram said the carriage was so crowded that it took about 15 minutes to locate the cause, making the following train late arriving at Kingsland Station.

But she said it was the only late train of 17 rail shuttle services to Kingsland, on which 7600 fans were carried for a special price of $2 a ticket.

This was in addition to about 3000 regular commuters.

All available rolling stock and staff were pressed into service, but she said the rail operator would have "a lot more" extra capacity on Saturday without normal peak-hour passengers to service.

There would also be many more buses, carrying people to a number of corporate hospitality events at or near Eden Park over a longer time-span, both before and after the game.

Ms Marjoram denied as "absolutely not true" a claim by a caller to the Herald that there was no train for more than 30 minutes after the game, and that at least 2000 fans gave up waiting and walked back to central Auckland.

She said the man, who did not leave his name, may have been referring to the time between services headed west.

Connex counted about 6500 fans leaving trains at Britomart.

Ms Marjoram said the company received just six complaints yesterday.

They were all from New Zealand fans rather from visitors.

"The Lions supporters were absolutely fantastic - they come from Britain where they are used to standing in line and using public transport."

But Ms Marjoram acknowledged that Kingsland, despite having been rebuilt over the past year with two platforms and a 3.2m-wide foot-bridge for $4 million, was still "not a great special events station" for the number of people it could accommodate.

The confusion on Tuesday night was not helped by fans ignoring a ban on using the bridge to reach Kingsland bars and cafes. The bridge had been reserved for passengers.

Eden Park's management will meanwhile renew efforts to build a second foot-bridge over Kingsland Station.

Park trust board chief executive John Alexander said Connex, despite coming under fire from some passengers, did "an excellent job with limited infrastructure" in bringing thousands of fans to and from the game.

He said it was "a big plus" for Connex that the number of fans who came by rail exceeded by three times the rail company's initial indications of its carrying capacity.

Mr Alexander rejected claims by several complainants to the Herald that transport difficulties would damage New Zealand's chances of hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2011.

"It is the first time they [Connex] have moved so many people with limited infrastructure and I think it bodes well for the future when they will have new rolling stock and new signalling," he said.