File photo. Photo: RNZ / Todd Niall
Auckland Transport is warning commuters to expect timetable delays today and that it is cancelling 19 trains due to existing speed restrictions.
It said 78 trains were cancelled on the city's commuter lines Wednesday, and more than half were due to track faults not caused by the heat.
Of those cancellations, 24 were due to speed restrictions including overheated tracks, 45 were due to track issues, seven were due to a train manager shortage, and two were due to driver absence.
"Today our teams are proactively cancelling 19 services because of track speed restrictions, including heat-related restrictions," an AT spokesperson said.
"This is the same number as we proactively cancelled yesterday before the afternoon peak."
Meanwhile, the transport agencies overseeing the rail network said the problems causing delays and cancellations need to be promptly resolved.
Senior leaders from the agencies attended a please explain meeting with the city's mayor yesterday.
In a joint statement, Auckland Transport, KiwiRail and Auckland One Rail said they would update mayor Wayne Brown as they work together to fix problems.
"All parties agreed that the issues currently affecting service performance need to be promptly resolved so that Auckland has a trusted, reliable passenger rail network in time for CRL (the City Rail Link)," they said.
"Our leadership and operational teams will continue working together to address the track and asset faults, staffing shortages and customer communication issues currently affecting passenger rail services in Auckland."
The agencies said they would be "jointly updating Brown and the minister of transport on our progress over coming weeks".
Fewer Britomart platforms operating in preparation for new CRL line
Auckland's City Rail Link chief executive Sean Sweeney said the number of platforms at the city's main station had reduced to make way for a new underground line.
Britomart station had been running on four platforms instead of five since the start of the year, meaning fewer trains could safely arrive and leave, Sweeney said.
"Earlier this year, Waitematā Station (Britomart) was reduced from five platforms to four, in order to make room for the new CRL line.
"This line will allow the station to operate as a through-station - rather than the dead-end it currently is."
Sweeney said as a result, changes to the signalling system allowing trains to enter and depart as if it were a through-station were made.
"As part of getting the network ready for CRL, the project is making staged changes to the rail network's existing signalling system to ensure the new rail line operates safely and efficiently when it opens to the public.
"Changes to the signalling system at Waitematā was brought forward to align with critical project milestones and workload across the wider network which will bring benefits as a whole, however it has had an immediate impact on the number of trains that can safely arrive and leave from the station within a certain period of time."
He said City Rail Link was working with Auckland Transport, KiwiRail and Auckland One Rail to resume normal operations at the station, with the new signalling system in place.
"Preparing the Auckland rail network for the operation of a completed CRL is a complex process and requires the integration of new systems, infrastructure and processes into a network that already exists."
Construction on City Rail Link is due to be completed by the end of next year, when it will be handed over to Auckland Transport and KiwiRail to operate the service.
