Major commuter train lines to resume but derailment cause still unknown
A Metro Trains spokeswoman confirmed services would resume on the Mernda and Hurstbridge lines from first service on Monday morning, but neither the Department of Transport nor Metro met The Age's deadline for answers to questions about whether passengers had been offered an explanation for the derailment or reassurances about their safety.
An investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and Victoria's Office of the Chief Investigator is under way. On Sunday, an ATSB spokesperson said the organisation was 'not expecting to give any substantive updates until the publication of a preliminary report in about two months'.
The disruption occurred when a carriage on a city-bound X'Trapolis 100 train came off the tracks between Rushall and Clifton Hill stations about 10.30pm last Sunday, bringing rail services on the Mernda and Hurstbridge lines to a halt. The carriage hit trackside pillars and damaged about 100 metres of track. No one was injured.
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The ATSB said last week that the train had hit multiple stanchions (support structures carrying overhead wires), rather than a single stanchion as had been previously believed – resulting in 'substantial damage to the overhead infrastructure'.
Damage to the undercarriage and a wheel meant the affected carriage had to be removed by crane on Tuesday afternoon.
Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said while last Sunday's incident appeared to be a 'freak accident', it was vital that a detailed investigation took place.
'They do need to thoroughly investigate and identify what has caused it because, obviously, it may mean there are infrastructure or procedural changes that should come in to prevent something like this happening again,' he said.
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