Services on two
Melbourne
train lines will remain suspended until at least Monday morning after a carriage partially derailed on Sunday evening.
The fifth carriage of the train partially derailed as it was approaching Clifton Hill station about 10.30pm on Sunday.
It’s understood the carriage became entangled in overhead wires after it partially lifted from the rail.
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There were 55 passengers onboard, but nobody was injured.
Services on the Hurstbridge and Mernda lines will be suspended until Monday morning at the earliest, Metro Trains chief executive Raymond O’Flaherty said.
“I want to sincerely apologise to all of our passengers who use our services on both of those lines,” O’Flaherty said.
“We know this disruption is impacting their journeys and we’re working very hard to recover this situation and reinstate train services as soon as possible.
“It’s a very unusual event, it’s not something we’ve seen before.”
A crane removed the faulty carriage just before 4pm today, after the other carriages were taken from the track overnight.
Hurstbridge line passengers will need to use buses between Eltham and Parliament stations.
Replacement buses will service Mernda passengers between Reservoir and Parliament.
Trains continue to operate between Mernda and Reservoir, but delays are likely.
Previously planned works mean buses will continue to replace trains between Heidelberg and Eltham until Thursday, July 24.
“There is a lot of work to be done over the next three to four days and then final testing and commissioning on Sunday,” O’Flaherty said.
“Obviously we are working around the clock as fast as we can.
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“We’ve brought in all the resources we need, but there is a lot of work to be done and we need to make sure it’s done properly.”
It has not been decided whether passengers will be entitled to compensation, he said.
“We will look at passenger compensation at the end of this month,” O’Flaherty said.
“In the meantime, what we are focused on is trying to ensure that passengers can still make journeys.
“We are doing everything we can to minimise the impact on passengers on both of these lines.”
Commuters this morning expressed their frustration at the replacement bus services.
“They gave me assurance it might be fixed today, but when I turned up today, it’s still buses,” one commuter said.
“[It’s] incredibly frustrating, but you’ve just got to deal with it, right?”
“These people stop and start the trains at random. It’s a shocking service,” another commuter said.
“Two days in a row I’m going to be late now.”
The cause of the derailment is yet to be established.
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