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Thousands of Harry Styles fans were left stranded at Mt Smart Stadium after the pop icon’s concert on Tuesday night, with trains cancelled and gridlocked traffic for miles.
Although regular timetabled bus and train services were included in concert tickets, some fans of the British superstar had to wait more than 90 minutes to get anywhere near a bus.
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More than 40,000 people were expected to attend the event in Auckland’s Penrose.
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A video from fan Freya Farrar, taken after the concert, showed hordes of people lined up on both sides of the road waiting for a bus.
The 26-year-old said being stuck in a crowd of thousands “with no buses in sight” was a “sour end to a really great concert”.
Farrar was able to leave Mt Smart Stadium “relatively quickly” but didn’t even see a bus for over an hour.
“The security were unwilling to speak to us to support and the [Auckland Transport] staff ignored most queries about what was going on,” she said.
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One fan described the experience as leaving her feeling like “cattle in a pen, trapped, stressed and anxious”.
Her group ended up walking to find an Uber, but it cost $190 to get back into the city.
They arrived at their accommodation at 1am – almost three hours after the gig finished.
At midnight, Auckland Transport tweeted that additional buses were heading to Mt Smart to pick up concert-goers.
“Wait times estimated at 90 minutes,” the tweet said.
Sophia Chan, 22, was also among the crowd swarming to leave the stadium just after 10pm and described the experience as “chaos”.
It took her over two-and-a-half hours to get out of the stadium, and a further 45 minutes to get to her AirBnb in Newmarket.
Chan was also unable to cross the road to get to the free buses.
“My friend started to faint. It was so hot and claustrophobic.
Abigail Dougherty/Stuff
Thousands of fans line up early for Harry Styles concert at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland.
“We yelled for help, a few kind souls let us get to the barrier, but the security wouldn’t let us pass,” Chan said.
After 20 minutes, and with her friend “barely able to stand”, Chan managed to flag down the attention of a guard who let two of her friends cross the road.
“They had no knowledge of where to go or what to do as they’re unfamiliar with Auckland.
“We begged the security to let us go with them.”
Chan said she was told she could find her friends later.
“We were literally cattle in a pen, trapped, stressed and anxious.”
James Parkinson, the director for Auckland Stadiums said it was “an incredible night and it was great to have Mt Smart Stadium at capacity again”.
“Auckland Stadiums is used to managing big crowds, and we work closely with Auckland Transport and other partners to make our events safe and enjoyable,” Parkinson said.
“Our ticket holders were informed of the potential delays via social media and email.”
Mt Smart said they created pick-up and drop-off zones for fans, as well as a post-event safe zone with water, food, toilets and phone chargers available while they waited.
Harry Styles performing at Mt Smart Stadium.
Parkinson said Mt Smart took its “responsibility to create a safe space very seriously”.
“With the rail and public transport challenges in Auckland, we did have longer wait times than usual and we know this negatively impacts our patrons’ experience,” Parkinson said.
“The stadium itself was clear of patrons within minutes of the show ending. Footage shows the post-event safe zone was the last space to clear of patrons, and this was an hour and 20 minutes after the show ended.”
Parkinson said they “review all aspects of every event to identify ongoing opportunities for improvement, and we will do the same for the Harry Styles concert”.
Before the concert, Auckland Transport warned concertgoers to be prepared for delays, with ongoing rail closures on part of the Southern and Onehunga train lines, as well as the event coinciding with peak commute hours.
On Wednesday night, a spokesperson for Auckland Transport said they “empathised with those who had a long wait to get home following Harry’s concert”.
”We delivered 4652 bus passengers in from the city centre, and approximately 3000 passengers were delivered back home from the city centre in the first hour post event,” the spokesperson said.
“We secured additional special event buses – 64 pre-event and 45 post-event – including additional capacity provided by double-deckers to operate between the city centre and the stadium, and North Shore bus services.”
Auckland Transport said it had ambassadors and more than 100 security guards at the venue, “double what we usually provide”.
“Due weekday peak travel timing of the concert, impacting on legal driving limits for bus drivers, and KiwiRail’s rail closures, we expected congestion around the venue and extended wait times on public transport,” the spokesperson said.
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