Labour Weekend closure to work on rail lines in Auckland and Wellington

18 Oct 2023

This Labour Weekend will see KiwiRail teams make significant progress on major rail projects and maintenance work in Auckland and Wellington.

To get this work done safely, passenger services will not run from Saturday 21 October in Auckland and Sunday 22 October in Wellington to Monday 23 October (inclusive). Buses will replace trains over this period.

KiwiRail Chief Capital Planning and Asset Development Officer David Gordon says KiwiRail uses public holidays as a shutdown period because a lot fewer people need to use the trains.

“The Auckland metro network is undergoing a massive transformation ahead of City Rail Link (CRL) opening, which will mean more frequent, reliable and convenient passenger trains for Aucklanders across the city. Our improvement work in Auckland also supports getting more goods on rail in the Golden Triangle (Auckland – Hamilton – Tauranga), the busiest freight route in New Zealand.

“We’ve still got a huge amount of work to do and need periods of uninterrupted access to the network, like Labour Weekend and our usual Christmas/New Year network closure.

“We appreciate not having trains running over the long weekend has an impact on Aucklanders, but it allows us to work much more productively and ensure the necessary work is completed in good time.

“We’re also undertaking upgrade work on parts of Wellington’s rail network, which will enable even better train services in the years ahead.”

“While commuter trains won’t be running, there will still be rail vehicles out on the tracks – so please always remain vigilant when you drive or walk up to a level crossing and look both ways before you cross.”

Work in Auckland over Labour Weekend, includes the continued building of the new Third Main Line between Puhinui and Middlemore, upgrades at the entrance to Auckland port, the extension of the electrified network from Papakura to Pukekohe and enabling activities for the new stations around Drury.

There will also be slip remediation work on the Western Line, the Manukau Branch Line and around Parnell and track and general maintenance work in various places across the network. Stage 3a of the Rail Network Rebuild will commence on the Western Line between Newmarket and New Lynn.

City Rail Link will continue undertaking major track works at Waitematā (Britomart) and Maungawhau.

Work will be carried out 24/7 in some areas. See the attached map for an overview of Auckland work.

In Wellington, renewal work is continuing to raise the standard of the Wairarapa Line and track work and signals improvements are being undertaken around the approach to Wellington Railway Station. Trains will run in Wellington on Saturday 21 October.

For more information on KiwiRail’s Auckland and Wellington projects visit:

To plan your journey over the Labour Weekend in Auckland and Wellington, respectively, please visit: