Storms cause train chaos

CRANBOURNE rail commuters faced massive delays after storms forced the cancellation of trains on three main lines on Thursday morning.
About 20,000 passengers, including VCE exam students and Oaks Day racegoers, were left stranded when a lightning strike caused the signal failure at Caulfield Station.
Services from Cranbourne, Pakenham and Frankston were cut at about 6.45am with a total of 146 trains affected.
Connex spokesman Andrew Cassidy said 28 trains were cancelled across all three lines and 44 finished short of their destinations. He said limited services resumed at 8am after a team of signal technicians were sent to Caulfield. The timetable was back on track by 10am.
“It was virtually impossible to offer replacement bus services for affected commuters as it was morning peak hour and there are very few buses available at that time.
“It would also have been impractical as the incident affected three main lines and there were long distances involved,” he said.
Mr Cassidy said the train operator would investigate how to cope with future lightning strikes to overcome Thursday’s chaos.
“Our technical staff have looked at the level of lightning protection and any improvements that can be made,” he said.