WILD weather and level crossings removals work combined to make it another frustrating week of travel on the Frankston line for train commuters last week.
Buses replaced trains between Caulfield and Moorabbin stations due to road and rail separations work at McKinnon, Ormond and Bentleigh.
Metro Train’s plans to shuttle passengers between Caulfield and Moorabbin for the week seemed to be going smoothly, with commuters finding little fault with the bus services, until nature intervened.
Lightning strikes during a storm on Thursday afternoon (28 January) at about 4.15pm, just before the afternoon peak, caused signal outages meaning Metro had to scramble to provide more buses and drivers to get commuters to their destination.
Buses replaced trains between Mordialloc and Carrum in addition to the lack of trains between Caulfield and Moorabbin forcing some commuters to take three train trips and two bus journeys on Thursday afternoon.
V/Line CEO Theo Taifalos resigned on Thursday last week after mass delays across Victoria’s rural rail network (‘Train delays frustration boils over’, The Times 25/1/16). Labor Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan is under pressure to ensure Melbourne’s train services get back on track after a poor start to the year due to cancellations and delays.
Frankston line trains will stop at every station this week (Monday 1 February-Friday 5 January).
See levelcrossings.vic.gov.au or call 1800 762 667 for details of future bus services scheduled to allow level crossing removals to be progressed.
First published in the Frankston Times – 1 February 2016
