The cancelled trips include eight on the Southern Line from 3pm between Britomart and Papakura, five on the Eastern Line between Manukau and Britomart and four on the Western Line between Swanson and Britomart.
“We appreciate how enormously frustrating regular disruptions and cancellations are for our customers, and just how much days like this dent public confidence in our rail network.”
She said the issues affecting the network today have been “decades in the making” and would take renewed investment and commitment to ensure Auckland has a reliable rail network in time for City Rail Link (CRL).
“Aucklanders deserve better than a passenger rail network that can’t run at capacity on a mildly warm summer day,” van der Putten said.
A spokesman from KiwiRail said the heat causes the steel in the rail lines to move if the trains pass over them too quickly.
This means trains must go much more slowly in hot conditions. Trains are often cancelled to prevent a major backlog, he said.
‘Typical’ - disgruntled commuters vent frustration
Commuters from downtown Auckland facing major delays and cancellations of train services vented their frustration about being stopped from getting home.
“I looked at the [timetable] noticeboard and saw all the cancellations and thought, ‘typical’,” one disgruntled commuter told the Herald.
She was crowded on to a platform with about 200 others. The next service due at that platform was cancelled. Constant announcements over the public address system advised of further delays to other services.
“It is a bit annoying. We wanted to beat the crowd [so left work early], but now we’re part of the crowd,” she said.
Another commuter, waiting for a cancelled Eastern Line train, said he couldn’t understand the disruption given services on that line had only just resumed after months of track improvements.
“I’m not happy,” he said, glaring at the Herald as he spoke.
“I’ve been waiting nine months for the [Eastern Line] train to return to service. Well, there’s been no improvement,” he said.
One woman waiting at a platform laughed when the Herald asked for her comment on the delays she faced.
“It’s just so frustrating. This is such an inconvenience. I have children at home I have to get back to,” she said.
Some people were blase, one saying “it is what it is”.
One woman, who was not too put out by the delays, was concerned about the crowd on the first train that would arrive after the string of cancellations.
One man simply told the Herald: “It [the service] must get better. I hope they improve their service.”
Auckland councillor Richard Hills said on social media: “As I said last week, I have serious concerns about KiwiRail’s performance for Auckland.
“Another day, another excuse. Signal faults, crew issues, operational constraints and now heat? It was hotter last week!”
Hills added: “I hope the minister is working on this? Am asking [the] mayor to contact him.”
Speaking to NZME, Hills said he would hate to think it was an excuse, but it felt like another thing to add to the long list of issues that have “popped up” over the past few weeks.
“It’s a very strange announcement to sort of come out of the blue and delay or cancel trains for so many people,” he said.
The excuse of heat, Hills said, was “ludicrous”.
He said people were feeling less certain about rail when it is supposed to be one of Auckland’s most efficient transport modes, especially with all the investment that had gone into it recently.
“This announcement happened almost instantly when the delays and cancellations were going to happen so it doesn’t give people much time to plan or change plans,” Hills said.
“Especially since we’ve had some major upgrades and closures on the network, Aucklanders would expect coming back to those rail lines that they would be in far better shape and working order,” he said.
Private forecaster WeatherWatch’s X (Twitter) account simply posted the reaction “Huh?!” to the cancellation announcement.
At 1pm, it was 23C in Auckland and the temperature peaked at 3pm with 25C.
The delays came as AT warned we were quickly approaching the busiest time of year for public transport use in Auckland.
Why is heat a problem?
KiwiRail general manager for metros Jon Knight said temporary speed restrictions were put in place once the steel rails reached 40C and were lifted once the track dropped below this temperature.
“It means that trains have to travel slower over these areas, due to the risk the track may have been misaligned by the high temperatures expanding the rail length. It is critical we apply these speed restrictions so that passenger trains can continue running safely.
“We have had high temperatures on the network and heat restrictions in different areas for most of the last three weeks.
“In Auckland today, heat restrictions are primarily on the Southern Line between Ōtāhuhu and Papakura. For example, the track around Ōtāhuhu has reached temperatures of 48 degrees today. We believe these restrictions add about 5 minutes to service journey times.”
Heat on the track was not directly related to air temperature, Knight explained, adding the steel rails got hotter than the air.
“Also, if there have been warm nights, the rail may not cool enough from the previous day. Temporary speed restrictions can have a cumulative effect on services and, to maintain schedule integrity, some services can be cancelled.
“At the earliest opportunity, predominantly in the evenings during high-temperature periods, KiwiRail’s maintenance crews carry out any repairs to the track that may be required to ensure timetabled services for passengers.”
Heat impacts speed in past, trains derailed
High temperatures have affected train speeds in the past, with the most recent Herald report on delays when tracks warped in Wellington.
On November 1, 2023, Porirua reached 24.1C, a jump from its previous record of 21.9C for the month, set in 2021. KiwiRail confirmed there were delays due to speed restrictions.
In 2006, a freight train derailed because of heat-buckled tracks.
Dunsandel deputy chief fire officer Ian Chatterton described the state of the tracks as “quite horrendous”, with 20 railway wagons flying off the tracks and into a riverbed on January 31 that year.
In 2002, hot weather forced then-train operator Tranz Rail to cut top speeds of passenger trains to 40km/h across long sections of the North Island Main Trunk line.
The Land Transport Safety Authority, the precursor to the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotai, mandated lower speed limits then after a passenger train between Wellington and Auckland hit a section of buckled track as it was going 90km/h.
