The new City Rail Link network in Auckland is facing delays and cancellations due to a fire at the Waitematā station, a train manager says.
Fire and Emergency are on site at Waitematā Station, where a small fire is understood to have been spotted near the ceiling.
Auckland Transport chief executive Stacey van der Putten said it may have been caused by an electrical short circuit.
“Clearance has been given, recovery to open in progress – services will resume and temporarily bypass Waitemata,” she said.
The fire comes as trains began carrying passengers through the long-awaited City Rail Link network for the first time.
Auckland’s long-awaited City Rail Link (CRL) opened finally on Sunday morning, with the first train hitting the tracks at 4.57am from Ōtāhuhu into the city.
The $5.5 billion underground rail system, New Zealand’s first, is also the country’s largest transportation infrastructure project and has taken a decade to build.
The massive project that adds two 3.45km tunnels deep underground that will link Auckland’s existing rail lines into one network and allow the rail system to almost quadruple its capacity.
It also includes two huge new train stations downtown – Te Waihorotiu and Karanga-a-Hape – and renovations to the Maungawhau and Waitematā stations.
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