Bus stuck, train derailed in Wellington

The Dominion Post

GOING NOWHERE: This bus got stuck on the corner of Mana and Fortunatus streets in Vogeltown.

OFF THE RAILS: The train was not carrying any passengers.

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A Tranzit Coachlines bus had to be propped up on blocks after it got wedged on a hairpin turn in the Wellington suburb of Vogeltown.

Police were called to direct traffic away from Mana and Fortunatus streets about 9am this morning, after the empty coach bus got wedged on the traffic island in the middle of the tight turn while trying to travel uphill.

The back end of the bus ended up wedged against the road.

A Tranzit support vehicle attended the scene, propping the bus up on blocks to allow it to reverse back down Mana St.

Senior constable James Patrick attended the scene, and said it wasn't surprising.

''It's a tight corner.''

TRAIN DERAILED

A train came off the rails near Wellington railway station while shunting empty carriages between two depots.

The front wheels of the train derailed as it was crossing a new set of points while switching tracks around 9.30am, a Tranz Metro spokesman said.

The train, which was not carrying passengers, may not have even had a driver on board, as drivers could shunt carriages by remote control, he said.

The derailment which occurred at the North Yard, near Kaiwharawhara, would not cause any delays, he said.

''It's a rail yard that's well away from the main tracks, so all services are operating normally.''

It was too early to speculate on a cause, he said.

Tranz Metro would have a clearer idea of what happened after the train had been craned back on to the tracks, which he expected to happen some time today.

THREE-CAR CRASH

Earlier this morning a three-car collision blocked the southbound lane near Tawa, north of Wellington.

Police central communications spokesman Marty Edgehill said one man had been trapped after a truck had driven into the back of their vehicle though they had since been removed.

"They weren't badly injured they were just trapped," he said.

Two ambulances attended the scene. The man was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

TRAIN DELAYS

Also this morning, train delays were hampering commuters around the Wellington region.

Both mechanical faults and operational issues saw trains between Upper Hutt and Wellington cancelled this morning, and services on the Hutt Valley line were running up to 20 minutes late.

The 7.39am service from Porirua to Wellington ran with reduced capacity because of a mechanical issue, and earlier services were running up to 20 minutes late on the Paraparaumu line due to a signals fault.

- with Stuff.co.nz

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