More pain to come for Melbourne commuters

Major delays and train cancellations on four Melbourne rail lines could drag into the afternoon peak.

Rail services were thrown into chaos when a fire broke out in telecommunications equipment near Richmond railway station on Tuesday evening.

The equipment controls signalling, causing rail operator Metro Trains to cancel many services and leaving thousands of commuters stranded in Melbourne's CBD.

Eight suburban rail lines pass through Richmond.

Delays and cancellations continued for the Pakenham, Cranbourne, Frankston and Sandringham lines on Wednesday morning, and may affect afternoon peak-hour trains as repairs continue, a Metro Trains spokeswoman said.