The Sydney trains network has been thrown into chaos after the high voltage cables fell at the top of a train, trap 300 passengers and caused interruptions in the trains that enter and leave the center of Sydney.
Howard Collins, the general coordinator of Transport For NSW, told journalists that the incident occurred at 2.30 pm on Tuesday, leaving 300 passengers trapped in Strathfield inside the west of Sydney and other trains stranded when the energy went out.
The passengers could eventually leave the train safely, and Collins told journalists: «He is threatening in life if you approach or touch cables with that amount of voltage … he will kill you immediately.»
«The most important thing here is security, making sure to do it in safe conditions and there is no risk that energy is turned on by accident or other media,» said Collins.
The Minister of Transportation of Nueva Wales del Sur, John Graham, said the passengers had been taken from the stranded train that was entangled in the wiring, as well as three other trains that stopped with the passengers on board. «
«This is a very serious incident in a critical part of the rail network and we apologize to all the passengers of the train affected and trying to get home tonight. The position of the train in Strathfield is (en) a main artery of the network and has caused a great interruption,» he said.
«The teams are now working to cut the tangled train and an evaluation carried out by the necessary recovery work. We will update how that work progresses tonight and any flow impact in the morning in the morning.»
Significant delays were expected for T1 (North Shore and Western), T2 (Leppington and Inner West), T3 (Liverpool and Inner West) and T8 (Airport and South), as well as services to Newcastle through Stathfield. Line T4 (Eastern suburbs and Illawarra) was not affected.
Cercanías chaos
There were chaotic scenes at the Sydney Central Station, since thousands of travelers who were heading home were flooded to address trains that were not working.
The trains in the main line of the Western suburbs did not move, with carriages to the ability to crush while the travelers approached, apparently unknown that their services had been canceled.
The station staff erected tape to cordon off the entrance to several platforms, but travelers were not clear about the closures, and many bent down under the barriers to continue to the platforms.
Jordi Bradley had traveled to Central so he thought it would be a quick transit to an express train to Meadowbank, but soon realized that he would spend much more of his night on platform 19 than he expected.
«It’s good that I don’t have plans tonight because I don’t think I get on a train soon,» he said.
«There were people who headed to the airport on the train where they were here to get here, but now they are trapped in Central with their luggage.»
She decided to wait on the platform instead of addressing one of the crowded trains, saying «nothing is moving.»
Rose Bility was in Central to take a train home in the Fairfield area.
She lives in line T3, and previously trusted the Bankstown-Sydenham train line, which is now closed for conversion to Metro, so her only alternative railway in recent months has been through Strathfield.
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«This is crazy, they have completely isolated the southwest of Sydney because the only passage we had left through Strathfield,» he said.
«There is no train alternative for me, and they have cut the bus routes, so I have to try to reach the southwest what I can and then get an uber.»
Frustrated travelers pulled around rail workers at the Central station asking how they could get home, but the authorities had no more information than suggesting that people caught the buses home.
Guardian Australia saw transport officials verify Google maps for routes that travelers could take home, instead of depending on internal communications data.
The platform ads also confirmed in conflict with train information screens for each service. At one point, a full train that seemed to be directed to the airport steeply emptied when an advertisement of the platform informed passengers that a train on a neighboring platform would operate the airport service.
Collins said the problems should be solved on Tuesday night, but advised travelers to review the news in the morning.
Transport for NSW advised people to plan an additional travel time or consider the use of subway services between Epping, Chatswood and Central, or alternative bus routes.
Collins said the alternatives were very limited, so people should avoid using the rail network when possible.
He said Uber had put a price limit to avoid massive price increases for shared travel service.
It was too early to say what knocked down the cable, said Collins, but the upper cable «kept a very strict standard.»
«But like anything mechanical, there may be a reason why this has happened,» he said.
«It is very unusual, but it occurs in cable lines above each state and around the world.»
