Sydney’s rail commuters are being urged to leave work before peak hour today as the city’s train network grapples with cascading delays from this morning’s meltdown.
Sydney Trains Chief Executive Howard Collins said a loose hatch on a train that blocked a line at Town Hall this morning was to blame for the problem.
There were major disruptions to services on the T1, T2, T3, T8 and T9 lines, at least 16 cancellations and some commuters said they had been stuck on trains for two hours.
Mr Collins warned travellers to leave for home earlier than normal, because of ongoing delays in clearing the backlog of trains.
“Just bear with us, but if you need to travel home tonight — if you’ve got an urgent appointment or you need to see your kids, look at some of the alternatives,” he said.
“We’re doing our best, but a big railway like this, with all the interconnections, may take some time.”
People around the city were told to get on buses to complete their journey, but the situation on them was not much better.
Queues for replacement bus services were seen extending for several blocks at many stations including Wynyard, Newtown and Rhodes.
A gridlock with dozens of buses on the city side of the Harbour Bridge had only added to the chaos.
One commuter complained on social media they had been told to walk over the Harbour Bridge from Wynyard.
Repairs were completed at 9.00am but there are still some delays.
Commuter Mick Bock got off a train at Newtown after it did not move for almost an hour.
“My trip from Lewisham to Central is usually 15 minutes but after 45 minutes the driver basically told us to get off at Newtown, as the delay was only getting worse,” he said.
“All the information I had said that there was worse to come.
“If I can be honest, my boss is a good guy and is understanding, as this happens all the time.”
Platforms were packed with very little room to move and one passenger had fallen at North Strathfield Station while trying to board a full train.
Ubers prices had surged, with one commuter telling the ABC a 2.6 kilometre journey was priced to $66.
Outraged commuters demanded refunds on their trip.
“One train needs mechanical repairs and apparently shuts down the whole Sydney train system causing delays. How come I’m paying almost $10 a day for opal again?” wrote one Twitter user.
Mr Collins apologised for the inconvenience and admitted the system was “ancient”.
He said because the loose hatch was close to overhead wires, power had to be isolated while crews conducted repairs.
“Because we’ve got a pretty ancient system, we have to send people down into tunnels to pull old-fashioned switches to turn the power off just at this platform,” he said.
Mr Collins said a “huge investigation” would be undertaken as hatches rarely become loose due to attached safety catches, but the problem appeared to be “external”.
“As everyone knows who was in the city last night, it was pretty windy, it could’ve been a branch or a rock,” he said.A report commissioned after Sydney’s rail network ground to a halt twice last summer found the city’s “tangled” rail network and crew shortages were major factors in those debacles. abcnews