Sydneysiders planning a night of revelry have had their plans thrown into disarray after chaos engulfed the city’s train network on Saturday evening.
A fatality at Stanmore in the early afternoon threw the entire network into turmoil, with some services cancelled and others delayed by up to 90 minutes. It left fuming passengers stranded between stations and wreaked havoc for people travelling into the city for Lunar New Year celebrations.
Passengers waiting for a train on Sydney’s Bankstown line on Saturday night.Credit: Millie Muroi
One Twitter user vented from onboard a train that had been marooned between Redfern and Central stations for 90 minutes.
“What the hell is happening?” he wrote. “HOW DO I GET OFF THIS TRAIN?!”
Another social media user asked for compensation after they missed their dinner reservation.
“I have missed my $500 reservation at Center Point Tower because of this,” they wrote. “I could of [sic] walked there faster.”
Other passengers complained the delays saw them miss the start of the Pink concert at Allianz Stadium.
A Transport for NSW statement said that the lines affected included the Airport & South Line, Bankstown Line, Blue Mountains Line, Central Coast & Newcastle Line, Inner West & Leppington Line, North Shore Line, Northern Line and Western Line.
“Trains are running late due to an incident requiring emergency services at Stanmore earlier,” it said.
“Services may be less frequent and trips may take longer than usual. Trains may be stopping at different platforms and may be delayed.
“These delays will continue for the rest of the night so please allow plenty of extra travel time and consider catching other public transport or making your own arrangements if possible.
“Please avoid non-essential travel where possible.”
Do you know more? Email carrie.fellner@nine.com.au