MetLink is investigating after a 13-year-old asthmatic boy was kicked off a train at a rural Upper Hutt station last night, to the dismay of his parents.
Ally Topham said she put her son on the train in Upper Hutt, bound for Carterton, and watched it pull away after giving him his $5 fare, but somewhere on the train he lost the money.
An enforcement officer approached the boy and asked him to produce a ticket or fare, and he was unable to.
He was kicked off the train at the rural Maymorn Station about 8.30pm.
MetLink contracts out the running of Wellington's trains to TransDev Wellington.
Topham said there was no cellphone reception at Maymorn, and her son's phone was almost dead, so he began walking back towards Upper Hutt.
"He followed the train tracks, because he knew it would lead him back to Upper Hutt - so he just kept walking," she said.
He walked for almost three hours, making it as far as Silverstream 13km away before a Department of Corrections staff member stopped and asked if he needed help.
He was dropped at his mother's house in Taita.
Topham said it was a cold night and her son is asthmatic - by the time he arrived home he was "absolutely distraught".
She said the decision to kick a young boy off a train at such an isolated country station after dark was wrong, and she has complained to MetLink about it.
"They should have either made arrangements to pay the fare later, called me, or waited until he got to his stop - his father was picking him up and he would have been more than happy to pay his fare - it's only $5."
She said she'd like an apology, and for some changes to be made.
"They spend all that money putting up ads about train safety, about how you need to take your headphones out when you're near the tracks and all that - then they kick a kid out in the middle of nowhere.
Metlink general manager Scott Gallacher said he understands the concerns of the family and will ensure the incident is thoroughly investigated.
"The safety and wellbeing of our passengers is paramount," Gallacher said.
"We have in place clear very rules and procedures designed to ensure our passengers, and in particular those who are vulnerable, are safe when travelling.
"It is unclear whether they have been followed in this case, but we will urgently investigate and get to the bottom of the matter as soon as we can.
"If we need to change our rules to better protect the safety of passengers, the travelling public can be assured that's what we will do.
"We are extremely relieved that the boy turned up safe and unharmed - however, we are very disappointed that this has happened and will work closely with the family in establishing the circumstances and on what we can learn from the situation."
Under the Land Transport Act, passengers can legally be kicked off trains if they are unable to pay a fare, and enforcement officers can also issue $150 infringement fees.
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