Commuters warned of evening train delays after Sydney cops a drenching

Wild weather flooded tracks and closed railway stations in Sydney on Friday, creating widespread delays that stretched into the evening after heavy rains that brought devastating floods to northern NSW moved south and crossed the city.

Drenched commuters were forced to use replacement buses after part of the city’s airport rail line was closed for much of the day, and Transport for NSW warned that evening travellers across the city would experience “flow-on” effects.

Sydney experienced between 60 and 100 millimetres of rain overnight and more on Friday morning.Credit: Sam Mooy

Air travellers also faced delays and cancellations after Sydney Airport briefly closed two of its three runways because of strong cross-winds on Friday morning.

The T8 Airport and South line reopened about 1pm, after being cut off by floodwater between Turrella and Revesby. A spokesperson for Transport for NSW said the line was “progressively recovering”, but replacement buses would continue to operate as train services remained reduced.

“It is a very tidal area, so we saw ... late in the AM peak the floodwater rise above the level of the rail line,” Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland said.

Intercity train services remained the worst affected: no trains were operating on the Hunter Line and buses replaced trains at limited stops between Newcastle and Maitland on Friday evening. Central Coast services from Sydney were turning around at Gosford, and buses replaced trains to Newcastle Interchange, as the station at Cockle Creek continued to flood.

T2 services at Lewisham in Sydney’s inner west returned on Friday morning after crews pumped water out of the station, which Transport for NSW said had chronic flood issues. T1 and T3 trains were experiencing small delays.

A severe weather warning is in place on the NSW South Coast.Credit: Bureau of Meteorology

Passengers on the South Coast and T4 Line were told to allow up to 35 minutes of extra time after flooding on the tracks near Oatley from heavy rain was forcing drivers to slow down. Several ferry services between Circular Quay and Manly were cancelled or postponed during the day due to large swells in the harbour.

As the weather system moved south on Friday afternoon, trains were not running between Moss Vale and Picton due to flooding on the tracks around Mittagong.

The rail chaos came days after a live wire fell on a train at Strathfield, causing major delays.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) recorded huge rainfall totals on Thursday night as a coastal trough that had brought flooding to the Mid North Coast and the Hunter began to move south.

More than 179mm was recorded at North Richmond, north-west of Sydney, between 9am on Thursday and Friday morning, causing minor flooding along the Hawkesbury River and resulting in several road closures.

Between 60 and 100mm of rain fell overnight across the wider Sydney area; 170mm fell at Robertson, south-west of Wollongong. On Friday, the weather bureau issued an updated severe weather warning, saying heavy rainfall was expected for parts of the Illawarra, South Coast and Southern Tablelands. It warned of possible six-hourly totals of 60 to 120mm, before rains eased on Friday evening.

In Greater Sydney, there was a continued risk of minor flooding on the Colo, Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers. The SES told residents to prepare to evacuate in parts of Chipping Norton, near Liverpool in Sydney’s south-west, in low-lying areas close to the Georges River.

The Nepean Dam was spilling, while a spill at Warragamba Dam in south-west Sydney was unlikely after WaterNSW said less rain had fallen than expected.

A WaterNSW spokesperson said the warning would remain in place on Friday evening, as there was a chance of a small spill in the next few days.

“It’s still filling up, but not as fast as it was,” they said.

With Ben Cubby

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