Fifty trains cancelled as Wellington is gripped by a 'chronic' driver shortage
Tuesday, 12 February 2019
A 'chronic' shortage of bus and train drivers is causing commuter frustration across Wellington, and the region's public transport overseers warn the problem could get worse.
More than 50 Wellington trains have not run in the past month because of a lack of staff, while a continued shortage of bus drivers saw 20 services cancelled across the city on Tuesday morning.
Metlink's Twitter account shows more than 70 train services have been cancelled since January 14 in total. Other cancellations have been caused by things like mechanical and maintenance problems, power outages, medical emergencies, on-board incidents, and one 'planning issue' when a driver was mistakenly left off the roster.
The worst day was February 5 when eight services were cancelled because of a lack of drivers and only two were able to be replaced by buses.
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A Metlink spokeswoman said on some days it had up to 16 per cent of staff on some rosters unavailable to run trains due to unplanned long and short term leave.
'We are doing everything we can to manage this shortage including recruiting, training, and pulling staff in to help wherever possible.'
More than 96 per cent of train services operated across the region in January, despite Transdev's 'temporary' staff shortage, the spokeswoman said.
'However, we apologise unreservedly for any disruption to passengers caused by the cancellation of our services. We notify passengers of any impact to services in advance and prioritise the busiest trains when possible.'
Bus commuters have also faced disruption, with operator NZ Bus cancelling many services during the past few weeks.
That is despite new timetables introduced by Metlink on February 3 promising more frequent and reliable buses.
Greater Wellington Regional Council chairman Chris Laidlaw said the driver shortage was putting a massive strain on the region's public transport network.
'There is certainly a chronic shortage of bus drivers, which is a major problem for us,' he said.
'The problem is endemic. It's now become apparent there is a shortage of train drivers as well.'
There needed to be a 'national conversation' about how to recruit and retain bus and train drivers, Laidlaw said.
'Because if there isn't, this could well get worse, rather than better.'
Tramways Union secretary Kevin O'Sullivan said the bus driver shortage was a 'complete nightmare and fiasco'.
'Chronic doesn't even describe it,' he said.
'I was just looking at the rosters for the next few weeks for [one operator], and there are lines and lines of shifts that can't be filled simply because there's no one to do them.
'They're constantly having to call people in on days off, and juggle the rosters around.'