Wellington train strike called off at last minute

A Wellington-wide train strike, set for tomorrow, has been called off at the last minute.

About 500 workers were set to strike from 2am to 11.59pm on Friday, over claims that rail companies Transdev and Hyundai Rotem were refusing to negotiate with them fairly.

At 4pm on Thursday, the Rail and Maritime Transport Union said that talks had failed and the strike would definitely be going ahead.

But soon afterwards, the union withdrew its action, with the Greater Wellington Regional Council saying all Metlink services would be operating as normal.

Transdev told Newshub that negotiations had made good progress over contractual issues with employees around terms and conditions. These negotiations are set to continue.

Auckland commuters could also be affected, with union members voting for a strike around the same issues with Transdev.

There have been no details confirmed about if or when the Auckland train strike would happen.

Newshub.