Commuters on Sydney Trains facing delays as network is plagued by signal repair issues

Urgent signal repair issues have created lengthy delays of up to 45 minutes on a major Sydney train route, with large crowds spotted on platforms.

Major Sydney train lines have been thrown into chaos, plagued by recurring urgent signal repairs - resulting in delayed services, skipped stations and large crowds gathered on platforms.

Peak hour commuters on the T2 Inner West and Leppington line on Wednesday were hit with up to 45 minute delays following a faulty cable at Clyde in Sydney’s West, which began about 8am.

Photos from Granville train station taken about 7.45am showed the station packed with passengers, however a Transport for NSW (TfNSW) spokesperson said the department had received no reports of overcrowding at platforms.

Train delays in Sydney have left commuters stranded at Granville train station on Wednesday morning. Picture: NewsWire,

While TfNSW reported the issue had been resolved by 11.13am, passengers continued to report lengthy delays on the T2 lines in the afternoon.

At about 2.30pm, one commuter said they were stuck on-board a train for more than 10 minutes at Lidcombe in Western Sydney, with passengers told the delay was because a guard hadn’t arrived.

A Sydney Trains spokeswoman said short delay was due to guards moving from one service to another, and not part of a wider roster issue.

Urgent signal repairs also affected services on the City Circle at Circular Quay on Wednesday afternoon.

Via X, TfNSW urged customers to allow extra travel time, and advised delayed trains would stop at different platforms.

Messaging the X account for the T8 Airport and South Line, one commuter said no services had travelled through Circular Quay for about 15 minutes.

“What’s happening between St James and circular quay? Sitting just outside the quay and no announcement for past 15 minutes?” they wrote.

The Sydney Trains spokeswoman said the issue was resolved by 3.15pm, however servings travelling away from the city on the T2, T8 and T3 line were still running “at a slightly reduced speed”.

What’s happening between St James and circular quay? Sitting just outside the quay and no announcement for past 15 minutes ?

— allison chapman (@allichapman) July 31, 2024

On TripView, which is run by the government department, delays of up to 43 minutes were reported in services running between Circular Quay and Central, with some train routes skipping the harbour station altogether.

However a TfNSW spokesperson said the frequent services meant passengers wouldn’t be subjected to long wait times, even though trains were running late.

Urgent signal repair issues resulted in lengthy delays on the City Circle line. Picture: Supplied

Wednesday’s train line chaos comes after multiple services faced delays after smoke was reported on board a train at Wolli Creek at about 6.20am.

Services running to and from the city were re-routed through Sydenham, and were affected until about 10pm at night.

On Reddit, one commuter who was on board the train at the time said they “heard a bang” prior to the train reaching the station.

“Then a bunch of people walked into the carriage I was on, stopped at Wolli Creek, got out and it was all smoke. Didn’t stick around to see what was up,” they wrote.

Originally published as Commuters on Sydney Trains facing delays as network is plagued by signal repair issues