Commuter chaos after power outage affects V/Line services

Peak-hour regional trains were brought to a standstill after a power outage in Melbourne CBD, causing commuter chaos across Victoria.

V/Line trains across the state have been affected. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Ian Currie

V/Line trains have resumed service after they brought to a grinding halt on Wednesday morning.

All regional trains across Victoria were impacted when a major power outage affected communication to and from V/Line’s operations centre in Melbourne’s CBD.

Buses were called into replace trains and delays of up to two hours were expected with commuters urged to defer non-essential travel.

Services began resuming on the Geelong, Ballarat, Ararat, Maryborough and Seymour lines by 8.30am though significant delays were expected to continue throughout the morning.

Warrnambool, Shepparton and Swan Hill trains were replaced by coaches due to limited access at Southern Cross Station.

V/Line said an early morning power outage limited its emergency communication systems, bringing trains to a standstill as crews worked to restore power.

Parts of Southern Cross Station were also affected, impacting the arrival and departure of trains.

Suburban trains were unaffected by the blackout.

“We thank passengers for their patience and apologise for the disruption to their services this morning,” a V/Line spokesman said.

“We worked to get passengers where they needed to know as quickly and safely as possible but the nature of the power outage meant that it affected crucial systems which control trains across the network.”

Citipower said an underground cable fault was to blame for the disruption.

“The fault occurred just after 4am and affected power to about 140 customers. We restored power to all customers by 7.30am,” a statement said.

“We thank customers for their patience this morning as we worked as safely and as quickly as possible to restore power.”