The Labour Party wants a ministerial inquiry into crashes involving two KiwiRail passenger trains at the same station in just over a year.
The Melling crash scene. Photo: RNZ / Richard Hulse
Two people were taken to hospital after a derailment at the Melling station in Lower Hutt just after 8am on Tuesday.
Passengers said the driver told them moments before the train crashed into a concrete buffer, the brakes had failed and to brace for impact.
An almost identical crash of a new train in April 2013 at the Melling station is thought to have been caused by mechanical failure.
Labour's transport safety spokesperson Darien Fenton said a ministerial inquiry is urgently needed. However, Transport Minister Gerry Brownlee said several official inquiries are already underway.
Melling line open on Thursday
Trains will start running on the Melling line again on Thursday. The wrecked unit has been lifted out of the station by a crane on Tuesday night and KiwiRail said all track and infrastructure repair work have been completed.
KiwiRail said investigations into the cause of the accident are continuing, but there was no reason to be concerned about the safety of the Matangi or Ganz Mavag trains used in Wellington.