Passengers were left stranded and without any information as trains were stopped during a brawl at Auckland's Britomart station, a witness and transport group representative says.
Trains were stopped for an hour on Saturday night when the fight involving hundreds of people broke out at about 11 o'clock.
Video images from Facebook user JAh'Rastaa Lovey showed scores of people at the station, some throwing metal objects and appearing to taunt the small number of railway staff.
Public Transport Users' Association co-ordinator John Reeves witnessed the chaos. He said police and security did not communicate with the thousands of people waiting to get home, and that was not good enough for a first world rail network.
Police said it was largely young people involved in the pushing, punching, and kicking, and while there were claims gangs were involved, no patched members were seen.
The brawl followed the city's Christmas in the Park event and Ragamuffin music festival and police said some at the station had come from the concerts.
Auckland Transport is yet to comment, while police said yesterday they managed to bring the situation under control relatively quickly and the crowd dispersed.