Reason for Melbourne’s shocking train delays on Tuesday evening revealed

The infuriating reason behind Melbourne’s train network shutdown on Tuesday evening has been revealed.

Vandals who likely burnt themselves while cutting signal wires are being blamed for Tuesday’s chaotic shutdown of the metropolitan rail network.

Commuters faced major delays on several lines across the city after a crew of vandals deliberately damaged a cable about 4.30pm on Tuesday.

It is understood they cut the crucial wire near North Melbourne and were on Wednesday morning being sought after by police.

It is also believed the network’s backup system was damaged and largely failed to kick in for some time.

Rail workers worked through Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning to identify the damaged cable.

Frustrated commuters stranded at Flinders Street.

Metro Trains said they would work with authorities to find those responsible.

“Vandalism caused major delays to the metropolitan rail network in peak hour yesterday afternoon,” a Metro Trains spokesperson said.

“This behaviour is incredibly dangerous and disruptive.

“Metro apologises to passengers for the disruption. There is no impact to services today.

“We will work closely with Victoria Police on this matter.”

It comes as further grief struck Melbourne’s train network this morning, with several lines experiencing major delays as commuters attempt to flock into the city.

The Craigieburn, Upfield and Sunbury Lines were all set back by as much as 25 minutes “due to a train fault in the Parliament area”.

The Public Transport Victoria website warned commuters that “trains may remain stationary for extended periods at stations or in between stations”.

“Select trains may terminate/originate at intermediate stations,” the notice read.

The second disaster struck only 12 hours after a signal fault caused peak hour chaos across Melbourne’s train network on Tuesday evening, with Flinders Street Station and South Cross overrun with passengers trying to get home.

Chaos at Flinders st station due to equipment faults. Picture: Supplied

Video shot by a disgruntled commuter showed hundreds of people crowded onto one Flinders Street platform, with trains at a standstill and more people pouring down the elevators.

Other inner city stations, including Richmond Station, were also overrun with commuters.

By 6.30pm, the chaos had largely dissipated, with commuters finally getting on their train or finding an alternate way home.

The Sandringham line was the only line largely still impacted with buses still replacing trains.

The network was still saying to allow for delays of up to 15 minutes on all lines, however it largely appeared to be business as usual.

At 8pm the Department of Transport issued a statement saying the signal fault in the Flinders Street area had been repaired and “trains across all lines are resuming normal timetables”.

“There are residual delays as services get back into position,” the statement said.

“Passengers are encouraged to check station platform displays, listen for announcements, and to allow extra time for their journey.

“Transport Victoria acknowledges and empathises with those caught up in the delays while technicians worked to resolve the fault, and would like to thank passengers for their patience.”

Hundreds of people crowded onto one Flinders Street platform, with trains at a standstill and more people pouring down the elevators. Picture: Supplied

Earlier, a Public Transport Victoria spokesman said the delays had been caused by a signal error.

“It’s a signal fault that prevented the communication between the trains and the tracks so that the system didn’t know where other trains were,” he said.

“So that automatically, as a safety issue, puts all signals to red, and all trains had to stop.

“As for an ETA, I don’t know, initially they thought it was a quick fix, a 10 minute reset of a circuit breaker, but that didn’t fix the problem.

“So it’s something deeper that they’re looking into.”

The spokesman said the Sandringham line, as well as Cranbourne, Frankston and Pakenham lines were the most impacted.

“The Sandringham line is suspended with buses replacing trains,” he said.

“That’s between Flinders Street and Elsternwick.

“Other train lines are running, but the Cranbourne, Pakenham and Frankston are all direct to and from Flinders Street.”

All other lines are running but with delays with commuters urged to be patient and consider other options.

“Not everyone is getting on their train the first time around because of the queue,” they said.

“They could still use City Loop trains on other lines, so they just have to change once they get around to Southern Cross or even use trams through the CBD.”