Light rail services in Sydney’s CBD have come to an abrupt halt, sparking more widespread commuter chaos ahead of the busy afternoon travel period.
Overhead electricity wires fell onto a tram at Rawson Place in Haymarket shortly before 11am on Tuesday morning.
L2 and L3 services were suspended between Central and Circular Quay for at least three hours. L2 services on the Dulwich Hill line were also disrupted.
Light rail services between Central, Randwick and Kingsford continue to operate.
Buses on routes 438X, 440 and 461X buses have also been diverted.
Commuters travelling between Central and Circular Quay are urged to catch a train and to add extra travelling time to their commute.
Authorities are trying to work out why overhead electricity wires fell onto a tram in the heart of the Sydney CBD on Tuesday
The Haymarket light rail stop was cordoned off after overhead electricity wires fell onto a tram in Rawson Place
Authorities are still scrambling to work out what caused the wires to come down after a morning of chaos on Sydney’s roads.
Photos shows trams stranded at the Haymarket light rail stop which has been cordoned off by police.
‘Crews are on-site at the moment, and we’re hoping to have [services] back up and running before the PM peak,’ a Transport for NSW spokesperson said.
‘Passengers should also allow extra travel time, listen to announcements and check information displays for service updates.’
Commuters inconvenienced by the travel disruptions took to social media to vent their frustrations.
‘Meanwhile in Sydney the light rail is broken, again. It’s been 2h at least and the website says no alerts? Even the transportation agency gave up on it? It would be nice for the passengers to know?’ one tweeted.
Hours earlier, Sydney’s roads were plunged into chaos after the routine testing of fire sprinklers in the M8 tunnel failed
It caused traffic mayhem on Sydney’s roads, including a 26-kilometre jam on the M5.
Light rail services aren’t running along George Street as the peak afternoon travel period looms
The commuter chaos comes on the same day the NSW government launched its Geotargeted Broadcast SMS platform.
The platform will send alerts about service delays or disruptions to passengers near train stations in real-time in the event of significant network incidents.
Victoria, Queensland and Western already use a similar text-alert system for major transport alerts.
‘While there might be a major disruption on our rail network, often we know that means there are flow-on effects across the city,’ NSW transport minister Jo Haylen told reporters.
‘It’s not just relevant to passengers that might be catching the train from Circular Quay to Wynyard, but we’re talking about the kind of disruption that would have broader flow-on effects.’
Light rail services between Central and Circular Quay came to an abrupt halt on Tuesday