Commuters caught in Monday's debacle when a Werribee train hit overhead cables and left passengers stranded for hours will not be compensated, Metro Trains says. "Compensation is looked at over the duration of a full month and not for a particular incident," Metro Trains chief executive Raymond O'Flaherty said. Normal services may not resume on the Werribee line until Thursday morning. Passengers walk along the tracks after a train hit overhead cables. Credit:Jamal Yusuf/Twitter The national rail safety watchdog has confirmed it will investigate the incident, which saw up to 100 stranded passengers risk their safety by climbing out of the carriages and onto tracks just metres from dangerous live wires.<doc-sep>Train delay chaos is affecting commuters in Melbourne, a day after passengers were forced to walk from stricken trains. Peak-hour train pain continues to affect commuters on the Werribee line for the second day in a row, as major delays continue after a power cable snapped yesterday. Werribee line trains partially resumed this morning, with trains running in both directions from the morning’s first service. City-bound services are running express between Laverton and Newport, but passengers from Seaholme, Altona and Westona have to take a train to Laverton and change there for a city-bound service. Panicked passengers forced open doors to get out. Picture: Twitter/Teegan Dolling Buses were slated to replace cancelled services, with Metro urging passengers to allow an extra hour’s travel. Outbound services are running via the Altona Loop between Newport and Laverton. PTV has apologised for the inconvenience caused to commuters. “This was a very serious and unfortunate incident, and we sincerely apologise to Werribee line passengers for the disruptions to their service,” a PTV spokesman said. “A limited Werribee service is running this morning, as well as extra buses to get passengers where they need to go.” Overhead crews worked through the night to in a bid to repair the damaged infrastructure in time for peak-hour today. An investigation into the incident is underway. It could be some days before PTV is able to work out why the cable snapped. There are no plans to reimburse passengers caught up in the Monday afternoon debacle. TERRIFIED PASSENGERS TRAPPED ONBOARD Yesterday, panicked train passengers forced doors open after an overhead power cable snapped, sparking peak-hour ­pandemonium around 4pm. The Werribee-bound train brought down the overhead power lines near Laverton in the late afternoon. The driver’s windscreen and other windows in the first ­carriage were smashed during the incident, which also cut power to the packed train, leaving it without airconditioning or a PA system. Deprived of on-board ­announcements, passengers found themselves trapped in a hot and crowded train without any ­information from Metro. TRAIN EVACUATION | LAVERTON STATION Powerlines are down over a train that has to be evacuated. Services have been suspended until further notice. some passengers are walking up to 3km to Laverton. Posted by Point Cook TV on Monday, 13 May 2019 Most passengers remained on the train, but some made an escape by forcing doors open. “There was a large bang and we saw cables flying outside the windows, they smashed a couple of windows,” one passenger told Channel 7. “The noise was incredible and we didn’t know if they were live cables hanging outside the windows and (if) there were broken pylons.” Authorised officers were sent to the scene to assist those still on board and crews arrived to deal with the damaged power lines. Passengers were stuck on the train for more than three hours. The incident caused the Werribee line to be suspended between Newport and Werribee into the evening, leaving commuters stranded on other sections of the line. Dozens of train replacement buses were ordered, while extra Metro staff were dispatched to stations between Laverton and Werribee. A Metro spokesman said last night that an investigation had been launched into the ­incident. “We apologise to our ­Werribee line passengers for the disruptions to their journey home this afternoon,” he said. All passengers were evacuated by 7.30pm last night.<doc-sep>Passengers stranded inside a suburban train after it hit overhead cables have risked their own safety by climbing outside the carriages and onto the tracks within metres of dangerous electrical wiring. The incident created significant delays on the busy Werribee line at peak-hour on Monday and into the evening. Metro staff were working on a plan for the Tuesday rush, but a spokesman could only say more would be known in the morning. Passengers walk along the tracks after a train hit overhead cables Credit:Jamal Yusuf/Twitter The drama began when the Werribee-bound train brought down cables near Laverton junction just after 4pm on Monday and lost power.<doc-sep>
Normal train services on the Werribee line are unlikely to resume until Friday, as Metro works to repair the damage caused by yesterday’s overhead wire failure. Today the company CEO apologised to passengers; some of whom were stuck on the train for close to three hours, after it became entangled in electric wires on the approach to Laverton station just after 4pm on Monday. Raymond O’Flaherty said investigators would examine the train and the overhead infrastructure to determine what caused the incident, which brought down more than a kilometre of wiring. Metro trains were working to move the train, stuck on the tracks after it brought down train lines yesterday. (9news) Investigations are continuing into what caused the incident on the Werribee line. (9news) “It's a very rare incident to see such a significant amount of overhead taken down, so we're looking all possible avenues quickly to determine the route cause”, he said. “We don’t think vandalism is an issue at this stage”. But he said some passengers put their lives in danger by choosing to leave the train before the area had been made safe. Some commuters forced the doors open and began alighting the train with live electrical wires in the area. (9news) “It's extremely worrying that passengers did that; it wasn't safe,” he said. “It was an extremely dangerous environment around the train, there was quite a large number of live wires on the ground.” “My message is to all of our passengers, please stay on the train, that's the safest place to be”. Passengers say due to there being no electricity there was no communication from the driver. (9news) Altered train services began operating from 6:15 this morning, but hundreds of travellers faced lengthy delays. Waiting for a train at Newport this morning, Sophie Went estimated it would take her two hours to reach work. “I got a bus to Williams Landing and then there was no trains, and there was about a 20 minute wait there, then a transfer here, and the last two trains have been completely packed,” she said. This afternoon two V/Line locomotives were brought in to shift the crippled train.