A power outage at a busy train station in Sydney has sparked travel chaos ahead of peak hour as commuters are urged to find alternative ways to get home.
Travellers have been urged to allow plenty of time after an overhead wire fell onto the roof of a train at Homebush, triggering a power cut at Strathfield station in Sydney’s west on Tuesday.
The power outage is currently impacting all services except the T4 South Coast Line.
Just before 2.30pm, part of a train’s rooftop power connector became tangled with overhead powerlines.
As a result, the powerlines were brought onto the track.
Passengers on the train that was hit by the broken live wire were trapped inside the train for over three hours as it remained stationary on the tracks.
No passengers were hurt but they faced a long wait while response teams ensured a safe evacuation.
Around 5.40pm, the evacuation of the 300 trapped passengers from one of the trains stuck on the tracks began.
Footage from Nine’s helicopter showed passengers being evacuated from one of the trains stuck on the tracks.
Staff helped commuters down a narrow ramp one-by-one.
‘This is a very serious incident in a critical part of the rail network, and we apologise to all train passengers affected and trying to get home tonight,’ Transport Minister John Graham said.
‘Passengers have now been taken off the stranded train that was entangled in wiring, as well as three other trains that were stopped with passengers onboard,’ Graham said.
‘Teams are now working to cut the entangled train away, and an assessment [is being] made of the recovery work needed.’
After the power outage was confirmed, a Transport for NSW spokesperson revealed response teams were working to help safely remove the trapped passengers.
‘The most important thing here is safety, making sure we do that under safe conditions and there’s no risk of the power being switched on by accident or by other means,’ the spokesperson said.
Travellers on the T1, T2, T3 and T9 lines have been urged to allow plenty of time following a power outage at Strathfield station in Sydney’s west on Tuesday.
Transport for NSW Coordinator General Howard Collins apologised for the incident at a press conference.
‘It’s difficult to ascertain how long this will take to fully rectify,’ he said.
‘You can’t sugarcoat it, this is an incident which is causing a lot of disruption to people and I apologise for that happening.’
‘It’s better being on a train and probably a bit of discomfort, than being exposed to the risk of power and or walking on the track and that is more important,’ Mr Collins said.
He explained the loose live wife was a ‘life-threatening’ situation, adding: ‘If you get very near or touch wires with that amount of voltage and amperage, it will kill you straight away.’
Mr Collins said he hopes trains will be operational again tonight but urged passengers to check service updates in the morning in case the delays are ongoing.
He shut down criticism of the maintenance of the network’s live wires and ruled out the incident being related to industrial action which resulted in huge delays in January.
Transport for NSW has initiated its agreement with Uber against unreasonable surge pricing for those looking for alternative ways home.
Sydney trains have confirmed a series of shuttle services are running following the outage.
For T1 and T9 commuters, a shuttle train service is running Hornsby and Central, while a separate shuttle service is running between Penrith and Olympic Park.
For T2 travellers a shuttle runs between Leppington and Lidcombe and, Ashfield and Central.
Commuters responded to a Sydney Trains notification on X.
‘Another day another Sydney Trains s*** show. A live wire down at Strathfield brings all but one train line to a grinding halt with no alternative transport arrangements,’ one said.
‘It’s peak hour and Sydney trains are completely f***ed, and I have never seen so many people so desperate to get on an overcrowded bus,’ another person wrote.
‘Golly gosh I love Sydney trains!!! Coming back from a work venue in the mountains and my train has been stuck standstill for an hour and the station isn’t even near a pub!!! You could have at least done us a favour,’ someone else vented.
Frustrated commuters have been left desperate for answers over how long the problem will last as they try to plan their routes home.
‘What’s happening? Just give us an eta. It’s backing up in a big way,’ one tweeted.
‘Please provide real time announcement of what’s happening, passengers are patiently waiting but clueless of what time the train will start moving,’ another said.