Wellington Railway Station Photo: RNZ / Jonathan Mitchell
So many Wellington rail staff are falling sick from seasonal illnesses that the capital's commuter trains are being cancelled at a high rate.
Eighty services were cancelled in the last two weeks, most on the Melling line out to Lower Hutt.
Metlink said it was forewarning passengers as soon as it could, though it acknowledged bus replacements could be "confusing" for them.
"We will develop a longer term plan if absences appear likely to continue, but if this is a short-term sickness issue we will continue to manage it on the day," Metlink general manager Samantha Gain said in a statement.
However, the problem was difficult to manage, she said.
"In the morning we are normally dealing with sickness issues in the minutes before the first trains are already departing, which is when sickness calls are received - it is extremely difficult to plan for last-minute calls in an environment where staff availability is limited."
About 60 train services had been cancelled on the Melling line and about 22 on the Hutt Valley line, since Monday last week - affecting about 7.5 percent of all journeys.
In 10 cases, passengers were not provided with another way to get to their destination.
Today at least half a dozen regular travellers who planned to head for Wellington on the 7.12am service from Ava in Lower Hutt queued for a replacement bus that turned up about 10 minutes late.
Some of the commuters remained on the platform waiting for the next train.
One told RNZ it was enough to put people off public transport.
"We understand this is frustrating and, along with [rail operator] Transdev, we are closely monitoring the situation," Gain said.
Cancelling services on the Melling line minimised the overall impact as it carried fewer passengers and they could be more easily put on buses, she said.
Earlier in the week, a Metlink information officer said 30 staff were off sick.
"We've seen no rise in complaints from passengers about the quality or timeliness of information," Gain said.
Metlink advised travellers to check its website for updates.
