Commuters stranded for more than three hours on a Wellington train were forced to improvise when nature called – using “travel johns”, or disposable toilet bags, handed out by staff.
The Waikanae service was stuck on the bridge over Hutt Rdafter an overhead power cable came down about 7.40am on Friday, knocking out three trains.
Geoffrey Weal, a passenger aboard this morning’s stranded service, said it stopped about 8am and didn’t get going again until 11am.
He said passengers were told a power cable had snapped and was lying on the train.
“Our metro trains don’t have toilets, so we had to hand out emergency supplies,” he said.
The “supplies” were chemical bags designed to absorb liquid and neutralise odour, with adapters for men and women.
Passengers were directed to use the driver’s cab for privacy. Tawharu said it was “a very awkward situation” but praised staff for looking after passengers and keeping them informed.
One commuter posted on social media that people had resorted to peeing in plastic bags.
Workers try to get a train going again after a wire snapped above it on a trip into Wellington.
Others said the crew had been “amazing” and remained upbeat as the train was towed back to the station.
Despite the ordeal, passengers were not offered refunds. Tawharu said fares were still charged, though default maximum Snapper charges were waived.
“We probably have [charged them], yes,” he said when asked if commuters had still paid for their disrupted trip.
By the time the train limped back into Wellington, spirits were reportedly light-hearted, with many passengers more concerned about their Snapper balance than the lack of loos.
Incident to be investigated
KiwiRail Wellington Metro general manager Andy Lyon said Wellington’s overhead infrastructure was not that old and it did not yet know what caused the wire to come down.
Some services along the Kāpiti Line were delayed Friday evening because of the incident. Photo / Krystal Gibbens, RNZ
Although all services are up and running, RNZ understands the disruption has caused some delays of up to 20 minutes on Friday evening along the Kāpiti Line.
Repeated issues on Wellington train lines
A “power supply failure” affected signals, cancelling trains during the peak morning commute in March this year.
Signal faults also cancelled trains in May and September, and a points fault affected signal lights in June.
In January 2024, several commuters were left stranded between stations because of a power outage caused by warm weather.
