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‘Something underneath failed badly': Safety investigators to probe train derailment

‘Something underneath failed badly': Safety investigators to probe train derailment

The Age15-07-2025
Safety investigators will probe how a Metro Trains carriage swung far enough off the tracks to collide with a pillar during a derailment that will paralyse two of Melbourne's key rail lines for more than a week.
Metro Trains has confirmed services on the Hurstbridge and Mernda lines will remain suspended until at least Monday while it repairs infrastructure damage incident at Clifton Hill on Sunday.
A crane was used at the site on Tuesday afternoon to remove the derailed carriage, allowing Metro Trains to assess the extent of the damage. The Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator is investigating the incident.
Metro Trains CEO Raymond O'Flaherty said it was 'too early to pinpoint what's caused this'.
The partially derailed train became stuck on the tracks at a bottleneck on the Melbourne network on Sunday evening.
The city-bound X'Trapolis 100 train had 55 passengers on board and was travelling on the Mernda line towards Clifton Hill station about 10.30pm on Sunday when the fifth carriage came partly off the rails.
O'Flaherty said one bogie – a series of four wheels – on the train's fifth carriage came off the rails.
The carriage hit a trackside stanchion (a rail pillar), causing significant damage and the train's pantograph – the antenna-like structure – became entangled in overhead wires.
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Major commuter train lines to resume but derailment cause still unknown
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Services will resume for more than 100,000 passengers on two busy Melbourne train lines on Monday without a public explanation from rail authorities as to what caused a carriage to derail near Clifton Hill station last week. A Metro Trains spokeswoman confirmed services would resume on the Mernda and Hurstbridge lines from first service on Monday morning, but neither the Department of Transport nor Metro met The Age's deadline for answers to questions about whether passengers had been offered an explanation for the derailment or reassurances about their safety. An investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and Victoria's Office of the Chief Investigator is under way. On Sunday, an ATSB spokesperson said the organisation was 'not expecting to give any substantive updates until the publication of a preliminary report in about two months'. The disruption occurred when a carriage on a city-bound X'Trapolis 100 train came off the tracks between Rushall and Clifton Hill stations about 10.30pm last Sunday, bringing rail services on the Mernda and Hurstbridge lines to a halt. The carriage hit trackside pillars and damaged about 100 metres of track. No one was injured. Loading The ATSB said last week that the train had hit multiple stanchions (support structures carrying overhead wires), rather than a single stanchion as had been previously believed – resulting in 'substantial damage to the overhead infrastructure'. Damage to the undercarriage and a wheel meant the affected carriage had to be removed by crane on Tuesday afternoon. Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said while last Sunday's incident appeared to be a 'freak accident', it was vital that a detailed investigation took place. 'They do need to thoroughly investigate and identify what has caused it because, obviously, it may mean there are infrastructure or procedural changes that should come in to prevent something like this happening again,' he said.

Major commuter train lines to resume but derailment cause still unknown
Major commuter train lines to resume but derailment cause still unknown

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time20-07-2025

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Major commuter train lines to resume but derailment cause still unknown

Services will resume for more than 100,000 passengers on two busy Melbourne train lines on Monday without a public explanation from rail authorities as to what caused a carriage to derail near Clifton Hill station last week. A Metro Trains spokeswoman confirmed services would resume on the Mernda and Hurstbridge lines from first service on Monday morning, but neither the Department of Transport nor Metro met The Age's deadline for answers to questions about whether passengers had been offered an explanation for the derailment or reassurances about their safety. An investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and Victoria's Office of the Chief Investigator is under way. On Sunday, an ATSB spokesperson said the organisation was 'not expecting to give any substantive updates until the publication of a preliminary report in about two months'. The disruption occurred when a carriage on a city-bound X'Trapolis 100 train came off the tracks between Rushall and Clifton Hill stations about 10.30pm last Sunday, bringing rail services on the Mernda and Hurstbridge lines to a halt. The carriage hit trackside pillars and damaged about 100 metres of track. No one was injured. Loading The ATSB said last week that the train had hit multiple stanchions (support structures carrying overhead wires), rather than a single stanchion as had been previously believed – resulting in 'substantial damage to the overhead infrastructure'. Damage to the undercarriage and a wheel meant the affected carriage had to be removed by crane on Tuesday afternoon. Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said while last Sunday's incident appeared to be a 'freak accident', it was vital that a detailed investigation took place. 'They do need to thoroughly investigate and identify what has caused it because, obviously, it may mean there are infrastructure or procedural changes that should come in to prevent something like this happening again,' he said.

‘Something underneath failed badly': Safety investigators to probe train derailment
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The Age

time15-07-2025

  • The Age

‘Something underneath failed badly': Safety investigators to probe train derailment

Safety investigators will probe how a Metro Trains carriage swung far enough off the tracks to collide with a pillar during a derailment that will paralyse two of Melbourne's key rail lines for more than a week. Metro Trains has confirmed services on the Hurstbridge and Mernda lines will remain suspended until at least Monday while it repairs infrastructure damage incident at Clifton Hill on Sunday. A crane was used at the site on Tuesday afternoon to remove the derailed carriage, allowing Metro Trains to assess the extent of the damage. The Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator is investigating the incident. Metro Trains CEO Raymond O'Flaherty said it was 'too early to pinpoint what's caused this'. The partially derailed train became stuck on the tracks at a bottleneck on the Melbourne network on Sunday evening. The city-bound X'Trapolis 100 train had 55 passengers on board and was travelling on the Mernda line towards Clifton Hill station about 10.30pm on Sunday when the fifth carriage came partly off the rails. O'Flaherty said one bogie – a series of four wheels – on the train's fifth carriage came off the rails. The carriage hit a trackside stanchion (a rail pillar), causing significant damage and the train's pantograph – the antenna-like structure – became entangled in overhead wires.

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