Wellington commuter services 'back by evening peak'

Faulty overhead wiring cut all train services between Wellington and the Hutt Valley this morning.

Ontrack now hopes to have train services back up and running before the evening peak.

A bolt in a structure which supports the overhead cabling gave way and the wiring was brought down by a Wairarapa bound train about 5.30am, he said.

Ontrack spokesman Kevin Ramshaw said 700 metres of electrification was affected, which effectively cut rail services between Wellington and Petone.

The electrification support structure that caused the problem had been scheduled for maintenance work but the failure occurred before it had happened, he said.

- NZPA