All nationwide heritage train services have been halted from today.
A passenger aboard Glenbrook Vintage Railways’ “Spiral Steam Spectacular” told the Herald she was sitting window-side when the incident happened.
“We weren’t told what happened but looking at the trauma of the bystanders, the trauma of staff … something I’ll never forget. But we weren’t privy to any details.
“I heard people outside yelling ‘stop’ seconds after leaving the station, but not in a screaming, desperate way. Then on a staff radio in our carriage came ‘stop stop stop’ and then we stopped. It was seconds only.”
The journey was a round-trip that began at Glenbrook in South Auckland and travelled to National Park and back, with scheduled stops at Pukekohe, Hamilton, Te Awamutu, Ōtorohanga and Taumaranui.
However, following the incident, the service was cut short, and passengers were transferred back to Glenbrook station by bus.
Glenbrook Vintage Railways (GVR) has been contacted for comment.
The woman described GVR staff and firefighters as “exceptional” as they “constantly” went through carriages checking on people.
Another woman who lives next to the station told the Herald the station was “full of families and kids” at the time of the incident.
The resident initially wandered down to the station to see the steam train arrive; however, her son became frightened at the noise and they returned home, “so I wasn’t down there when the actual incident happened thank god”.
“I went back down when forensics were there and looked like third carriage from the back.”
From today, all rail heritage services have been cancelled by order of the New Zealand Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA).
“Due to a serious rail incident in the North Island, the network regulator has initiated a mandatory, nationwide safety stand-down for all services operating under a rail heritage licence,” an email to passengers said.
“While this incident is entirely separate from our operations here in the South Island, standard safety protocols require all movement to pause until an initial investigation is completed.
“The safety of our passengers and crew is our absolute priority, and we strictly adhere to these regulatory requirements.”
KiwiRail referred queries about cancellations to NZTA, which has been approached for comment.
One passenger who planned to travel by rail from Dunedin to Christchurch told the Herald they were informed by service provider Mainlander at 2am that their 8am trip was cancelled.
“We got a note under the [hotel] door at 2am saying all historic services have been cancelled.
“It’s really awful for the family involved and so they [Mainlander] just need to do what they have to.”
Replacement coaches were arranged for passengers. The traveller described about 300 to 400 people packed into buses.
“The Mainlander team here are wonderful and looking after everyone as well as possible.”
The journey was expected to take just under eight hours.
Police said there was no ongoing risk and asked members of the public to avoid the railway station.
WorkSafe said it had been notified and an inspector was making initial inquiries.