Christmas hold-ups

Christmas Day was a busy one on the roads out of the capital as Wellingtonians headed north for the holiday – and for their Christmas dinners. Traffic was heavy up the Kapiti Coast on Christmas morning in gloomy and overcast weather. New Zealand Transport Agency spokesman Anthony Frith said it was particularly slow between about 11am and 3.30pm, especially at Pukerua Bay and Paekakariki. People were probably going to and from Christmas luncheons, he said. As mid-afternoon rolled round the cars thinned out and by 4pm what traffic there was was running smoothly. Elsewhere, there were no major delays, Frith said. Trains in the Wellington region were running for free on a reduced schedule. The police reported no major incidents on the roads at the time of going to press, and the holiday road toll period, which began at 4pm on Christmas Eve, remained without a fatal accident.