Commuters stranded for more than three hours on a Wellington train were forced to improvise when nature called - using "travel johns", or disposable toilet bags, handed out by staff.
The Waikanae service was stuck on the bridge over Hutt Road after an overhead power cable came down around 7.40am on Friday, knocking out three trains.
Geoffrey Weal, a passenger aboard this morning's stranded service, said it stopped about 8am and didn't get going again until 11am.
He said passengers were told a power cable had snapped and was lying on the train.
The most affected service was finally hauled into Wellington Station at about 11.20am, with 152 passengers on board.
'A very awkward situation'
Claims were soon made on social media that people were going to the toilet in plastic bags.
Metlink senior manager Paul Tawharu confirmed with RNZ Checkpoint that the incident left staff facing an awkward challenge.
"Our metro trains don't have toilets, so we had to hand out emergency supplies," he said.
The "supplies" were chemical bags designed to absorb liquid and neutralise odour, with adapters for men and women.
Passengers were directed to use the driver's cab for privacy. Tawharu admitted it was "a very awkward situation", but praised staff for looking after passengers and keeping them informed.
One commuter posted on social media that people had resorted to peeing in plastic bags.
Others said the crew had been "amazing" and remained upbeat as the train was towed back to the station.
Despite the ordeal, passengers were not offered refunds. Tawharu said fares were still charged, though default maximum Snapper charges were waived.
"We probably have [charged them], yes," he said when asked if commuters had still paid for their disrupted trip.
By the time the train limped back into Wellington, spirits were reportedly light-hearted, with many passengers more concerned about their Snapper balance than the lack of loos.
Incident to be investigated
KiwiRail Wellington Metro GM Andy Lyon said Wellington's overhead infrastructure was not that old, and they did not yet know what caused the wire to come down.
"This incident will be fully investigated."
Although all services are up and running, RNZ understands that the disruption has caused some delays of up to 20 minutes along the Kāpiti Line Friday evening.
Repeated issues on Wellington train lines
A "power supply failure" affected signals, cancelling trains during the peak morning commute in March this year.
Signal faults also cancelled trains in May and September, and a points fault affected signal lights in June.
In January 2024, several commuters were left stranded between stations due to a power outage caused by warm weather.
