Sydney trains moving again after hellish morning commute for thousands
Trains are moving again on Sydney’s North Shore line after a major wiring failure caused a nightmare morning commute for thousands.
The commotion left passengers facing lengthy delays, packed replacement buses, and eye-watering ride-share fares.
Trains are moving again on Sydney’s North Shore line after a major wiring failure caused a nightmare morning commute for thousands. Today
Transport for NSW is investigating the latest breakdown, the second overhead wiring failure in just 11 days, but says the two incidents are not linked.
Trains did not run between Gordon and North Sydney during the morning peak after urgent repairs were needed on overhead wiring near Artarmon.
Other parts of the T1 North Shore Line were also disrupted, with only limited trains running between Hornsby and Central, and Hornsby and Gordon.
Replacement buses were brought in to move passengers to Chatswood, but huge queues formed as commuters scrambled for alternative ways into the city.
Extra Metro services were also added, but passengers faced long waits and packed carriages.
Transport for NSW is now investigating the cause of the failure. 9News
Ride-shares weren’t much help either, with Uber fares skyrocketing to nearly $70 for what should’ve been a quick trip.
Repairs began Monday night, with Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland warning early this morning the problems could last through the peak.
“The best case would be mid-morning,” he told 2GB when asked when the full line could reopen.
“Once repairs are done we need to do testing before they re-energise those lines, so quite a process to work through to make sure everything’s safe.”
Transport for NSW is now investigating the cause of the failure.
“We will be reviewing the footage from trains that move through the [area] … [to] get to the bottom of what went wrong with this particular piece of infrastructure,” Longland said.
The Electrical Trades Union blamed the problems on a shortage of workers to maintain critical overhead infrastructure.
The state opposition also seized on the disruption, with Shadow Transport and Infrastructure Minister Natalie Ward saying commuters had seen little improvement despite government intervention.
“There’s been an independent rail review, there’s been a rail reliability plan, and all these big announcements and commuters are still stuck waiting for a train,” she said.
Transport for NSW said services had returned to normal on Tuesday afternoon.
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