Major train delays again cause chaos across Sydney

Many of Sydney’s train lines were experiencing major delays on Saturday due to flow-on effects from repairs after live wiring fell down over a train, three days after the entire network came to a halt.

Transport for NSW said it expected train timetables to return to normal by Sunday morning after it completed urgent repairs to the overhead wires that came down over a train at Panania, in the city’s south-west.

However, it said there would still be delays and longer gaps between services across the rail network for the rest of Saturday, and urged commuters to allow extra travel time or delay travel where possible.

Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland said it had been a challenging few days for commuters.

“Our whole team are absolutely focused on returning to a more stable operation with less major outages, ensuring we can deliver a rail service that customers can rely on,” he said.

One customer reported waiting at Kogarah station for 40 minutes, followed by a two-hour train commute to North Sydney, which would normally take about 45 minutes.

Commuters attempt to board trains at Parramatta station during delays across the network on Wednesday.Credit: Wolter Peeters

Alerts remained active on Saturday afternoon for the T1 North Shore and Western Line, T2 Inner West and Leppington Line, T3 Bankstown Line, T4 Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra Line, T7 Olympic Park Line, T8 Airport and South Line and the T9 Northern Line, all impacted by the incident which began on Friday afternoon.

In an earlier statement, Transport for NSW said 1500-volt overhead wiring came down across all rail lines at Panania at 3pm on Friday and came to rest on a train.

It said the safety of passengers was paramount, and they were all “safely detrained” at 5pm after being given water by staff, having been stuck between platforms near the station.

“Emergency crews needed to earth the train before the wiring could be removed and passengers could be safely removed from the train,” Transport for NSW said.

“The doors on the train had to remain closed for the safety of passengers due to the dangerous live wire conditions.”

Emergency repairs to remove the affected train and fix the overhead wiring began on Friday night. Engineers are still investigating the cause of the wiring failure.

Signalling issues at Erskineville in the inner west also caused delays earlier in the day.

Passengers took to social media to express their disappointment. One person said, “What a mess”, while another noted, “Twice in one week”.

Limited buses replaced trains between Kingsgrove and Glenfield on the T8 line and shuttle train services were running between the city and Kingsgrove via the airport.

Longland said that safety was the key priority.

“We appreciate that this was a long wait for customers on the train, and thank everyone for their patience while we worked to rectify the safety issues as quickly as possible,” Longland said.

NSW Transport Minister David Elliott was briefed about the incident, but did not provide a detailed response due to the state government being in caretaker mode.

The delays follow a Sydney-wide train meltdown on Wednesday afternoon after a major communications malfunction, impacting 250,000 passengers.

Premier Dominic Perrottet apologised on Thursday and said commuters should be given a fare-free day as compensation. Due to being in caretaker mode, the government cannot instruct the transport department to offer a fare-free day until after the election on March 25.

Saturday afternoon was set to be busy in Sydney, with passengers moving across the city for various events, including Ladies Day at Rosehill, the round two NRL clash between the Roosters and Warriors at Allianz Stadium in Moore Park and Canadian comedian Russell Peters’ performance at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney Olympic Park.

Separate to the wiring delays, buses also replaced trains on the T4 line between Central and Bondi Junction on Saturday and Sunday.

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