Latest news with #DanielBowen
Sydney Morning Herald
5 days ago
- General
- Sydney Morning Herald
Major commuter train lines to resume but derailment cause still unknown
Services will resume for more than 100,000 passengers on two busy Melbourne train lines on Monday without a public explanation from rail authorities as to what caused a carriage to derail near Clifton Hill station last week. 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. Loading 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.
The Age
5 days ago
- General
- The Age
Major commuter train lines to resume but derailment cause still unknown
Services will resume for more than 100,000 passengers on two busy Melbourne train lines on Monday without a public explanation from rail authorities as to what caused a carriage to derail near Clifton Hill station last week. 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. Loading 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.
7NEWS
15-07-2025
- 7NEWS
Mernda and Hurstbridge lines not resuming until next week following Clifton Hill train derailment
Thousands of passengers in Melbourne's northeast will face lengthy delays on their daily commutes until at least next week as engineers work to repair damage caused during a train derailment. Both the Mernda and Hurstbridge lines, which service 110,000 people on a daily basis, will remain suspended until next Monday after a train came off the tracks at Clifton Hill on Sunday night. Metro Trains chief executive officer Raymond O'Flaherty said it was too early to say exactly what caused the train to derail. 'We're confident that we'll resume passenger services on Monday morning, next Monday,' he said. ''This network is safe, I stand by Metro's strong safety record over the last 15 years.' The impacted carriage was only lifted from the tracks on Tuesday. Passengers have been forced to use replacement buses resulting in delays of up to 45 minutes. 'I usually wait like seven minutes for the train, but now it's like a long wait in the cold, its terrible,' one passenger told 7NEWS. The derailment happened on what has been described as one of the tightest corners of the train network at Clifton Hill. Around 55 passengers were on board at the time and no injuries were reported. 'That part of the rail network was originally built in the 1880s and the alignment of the tracks has not really changed significantly since then so the infrastructure could well be a factor,' Daniel Bowen, member of the Public Transport Users Association, said. Hurstbridge Line passengers will need to use buses between Eltham and Parliament stations, while those on the Mernda Line will use buses between Reservoir and Parliament. 'We ask passengers to check station platform displays, listen for announcements, and allow extra time for their journey,' the Department of Transport and Planning said. Works that were already planned as part of Victoria's Big Build mean that buses will replace trains on the Hurstbridge Line between Heidelberg and Eltham until July 24. Over 100 major road and rail projects are being developed through the Big Build, including the Metro Tunnel.
The Age
04-06-2025
- General
- The Age
It took a decade for Southern Cross Station to install bins. This might be why
Melbourne's second-busiest and arguably most-maligned train station – Southern Cross – has reinstalled rubbish bins on its platforms, more than 10 years after they returned to other inner-city stations. It's a small win for commuters that also raises the question: what took so long? Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said he suspected it was because Southern Cross is the only privatised train station in Victoria. 'Southern Cross was always the exception – they removed the bins completely, and it's not until now that they've bothered to put anything back,' he said. Terrorism and other security threats have made bins a tricky problem for transport operators, given their potential to conceal bombs and other dangerous devices. London transit authorities removed metal bins – which can turn into shrapnel and make a blast even deadlier – from the city's railway stations after the Irish Republican Army planted a bomb inside one in a fatal 1991 attack. Victoria replaced its metal bins with transparent plastic ones at inner-city stations in the lead-up to the 2006 Commonwealth Games. But even those plastic tubs were deemed too risky and were ripped out amid heightened terrorism threats in September 2014. Metro Trains installed new bins six months later based on a design now used on the London Underground, consisting of clear plastic bags hanging from metal hoops.
Sydney Morning Herald
04-06-2025
- General
- Sydney Morning Herald
It took a decade for Southern Cross Station to install bins. This might be why
Melbourne's second-busiest and arguably most-maligned train station – Southern Cross – has reinstalled rubbish bins on its platforms, more than 10 years after they returned to other inner-city stations. It's a small win for commuters that also raises the question: what took so long? Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said he suspected it was because Southern Cross is the only privatised train station in Victoria. 'Southern Cross was always the exception – they removed the bins completely, and it's not until now that they've bothered to put anything back,' he said. Terrorism and other security threats have made bins a tricky problem for transport operators, given their potential to conceal bombs and other dangerous devices. London transit authorities removed metal bins – which can turn into shrapnel and make a blast even deadlier – from the city's railway stations after the Irish Republican Army planted a bomb inside one in a fatal 1991 attack. Victoria replaced its metal bins with transparent plastic ones at inner-city stations in the lead-up to the 2006 Commonwealth Games. But even those plastic tubs were deemed too risky and were ripped out amid heightened terrorism threats in September 2014. Metro Trains installed new bins six months later based on a design now used on the London Underground, consisting of clear plastic bags hanging from metal hoops.
