An Auckland train has been defaced in a daring day-time graffiti job.

About 10 taggers wearing masks spray painted the Auckland Transport (AT) operated passenger train while it was stopped at Baldwin Ave station in Mt Albert around 4:45pm on Sunday.

The graffiti artists signed off their work with, 'Outcasts - till death'.

SUPPLIED An Auckland train was graffiti bombed while stopped at Baldwin Ave station in Mt Albert.

An emergency stop button was pushed on the outside of the train, immobilising it, which allowed enough time for them to spray paint the entirety of the station facing side of the train.

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The driver locked the locomotive's doors in order to keep passengers safe while police were called, but the offenders had vanished from the scene by the time police arrived.

SUPPLIED It took only eight minutes for the station facing side of the train to be completely covered in paint.

Commuter and Mt Eden resident Max Hampton was on the train at the time.

It took about eight minutes for them to totally cover two carriages in paint, Hampton said.

"The taggers weren't rushing at all, they seemed determined to finish."

The trains doors were eventually reopened 10 minutes after the taggers had left, with two police officers turning up shortly after, he said.

Many people on the train were joking and laughing about the situation with a number taking photos and videos, he said.

"There were a few very p....d off looking older people though."

However, Auckland Councillor John Watson, who was also a passenger, said the experience was a distressing one.

"There were people on that train who were struggling to breathe from the fumes, people were really visibly upset," Watson said.

"When you look at what it is, it's still a group of unidentified individuals, doing a pretty brazen criminal act."

Passengers were starting to become quite angry over the notion of "essentially being held hostage," he said.

"Had the doors been open there would have been a few people keen to deal it out to the taggers."

AT spokesman Mark Hannan said emergency stop buttons on trains were a safety feature for real emergencies like a fire or a person being trapped, not the amusement of vandals.

"The incident at Baldwin Ave yesterday was completely unacceptable and this is a wider issue with society, and not confined to public transport," Hannan said.

Instances such as this were relatively uncommon, he said.

"Our advice to passengers is, even though they are as angry as the rest of us, not to put themselves in danger by engaging with these idiots."

The train was immediately removed from service and taken to AT's Wiri depot where it was washed.

Vandalism on trains and at stations had cost Auckland ratepayers $1.29m over the past year.

Auckland Council spent almost $18 million on graffiti clean-up between 2014 and 2017.

Auckland City Police sergeant James Cassin said it appeared to a premeditated and planned attack.

"We are determined to hold those responsible to account," Cassin said.

Police were making enquiries into the incident.