Traffic is free-flowing again after climate action protesters blocked the Terrace Tunnel on State Highway 1 on Wednesday morning.
Six protesters were sitting on the road in front of the Terrace Tunnel accompanied by a large banner reading: Restore Passenger Rail.
Traffic was brought to a standstill with one commuter, who was on a moped, seen running up to the protesters and trying to rip the banner away from the demonstrators.
More commuters went up to the protesters and ripped the banner away and threw it off the road but demonstrators went and retrieved it.
Footage from the scene also showed police taking the banner away from the protestors and arresting the demonstrators. They could be seen picking the protesters up and dragging them off the road.
Police said six people had been arrested following the protest.
"While protest activity in itself is lawful, the actions of those on the motorway this morning were not.
"Being on foot on the motorway is incredibly dangerous, not only for those individuals, but for motorists," said Wellington Area Commander Inspector Dean Silvester.
"We will not hesitate to take action in cases where safety is threatened."
The six people arrested have been charged with wilful trespass and criminal nuisance, and have been held in custody to appear in the Wellington District Court.
Transport Minister Michael Wood told Newshub it's "totally unacceptable to disrupt commuters and the Wellington transport network".
"There is significant work underway to improve rail in New Zealand thanks to our Government's historic investment. Since 2017, we have invested $8.6 billion to build a resilient and reliable network after decades of neglect and decline," he said.
"Much of this is the bread and butter of our network replacing track, new culverts and bridges, upgraded turnouts, all of which are needed for a safe and effective network. This is also crucial work ahead of considering whether we introduce additional freight and passenger services across the network."
Police said a number of people will be charged in relation to the protest and they thank motorists for their patience.
Reporter Tia McDougall told AM traffic is free-flowing after police swooped in to arrest the protesters.
"Those protesters have come and have been arrested and have been taken away. Traffic is now finally free-flowing, which is fantastic for anyone trying to commute through the CBD but for those protesters, they have been taken back to the police station," she told AM.
The Restore Passenger Rail is a climate action group demanding the Government restore passenger rail to the extent it was in 2000 by reopening now freight-only lines and introducing new lines. It wants affordable and accessible services aligned with Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
On Monday morning, traffic was brought to a standstill as protesters climbed a gantry near the Bolton Street overbridge on State Highway 1 and hung a large banner reading: Restore Passenger Rail.
Police told Newshub on Monday three people were arrested after the protest on Monday but won't face any charges. Instead, police said they have been referred to "an alternative resolution process".
Protester Michael Apathy told AM on Wednesday he couldn't tell Wellingtonians where the protest would be but said it would be "this morning during rush hour traffic".
"I don't know personally exactly where it's going to be and also, we just need to be able to have people get into position in order to do the action," Apathy told AM co-host Ryan Bridge.
The protest on Monday was met with criticism with National's Simeon Brown lashing out at the climate activists saying they're "reckless idiots".
"They're disrupting thousands of commuters trying to get to work, trying to go about their daily lives, trying to make a living and pay the bills and they're getting stuck in traffic," Brown told AM.
"The reality is emissions would have gone up in Wellington yesterday because all those cars would have been stuck in traffic emitting more and more gas so this is just absolutely reckless idiots and it puts their cause back a long way."
Apathy said they're taking precautions to make sure their protesters and people in the Capital are safe.
"We've taken some real precautions, everything we can to ensure safety as best as we possibly can," he said.
"We're only doing this because we feel like the situation is absolutely urgent and because we have done everything else that we could possibly do."
Apathy said their protest is a bit "unusual" but feels it's safe.
"These actions are a bit unusual in the context of New Zealand, but this has been done thousands of times in different countries overseas," he said.
"So we do have a bit of a sense of what works and we do care a great deal about the disruption that we're causing."
Apathy added it would be different people involved in the protest on Wednesday than on Monday.
