Drunk driver stops train

A passenger train with about 400 people on board was held up for an hour at Shannon Railway Station last night when a drunk driver got his vehicle stuck on rail tracks.

The incident happened at Tokomaru, 21km southwest of Palmerston North, when police were alerted about 7pm to a driver who had got himself lost.

"The driver had driven on to the railway lines and ended up straddling the lines and was unable to drive back off," said Sergeant Doug Seal of Palmerston North.

He said the driver, a 41-year-old man, was taken to Palmerston North police station.