source : the age
Metro Trains crews have uncovered the actual cause of tonight’s cancellations on the Mernda and Hurstbridge lines: A deliberately cut cable at Clifton Hill.
While investigations are in their early stages, a spokesperson said it was believed the cable vandalised was made of copper.
They said Metro was hoping for services on both lines to resume in the next 30 to 60 minutes, and that Metro would likely be in touch with police to continue investigations after replacing the cable.
Here’s what you’ve been telling us about this difficult evening on the rails:
Rebecca: ”Bendigo line suspended too – at 630pm there were several hundred people queuing for buses that no one a V/line told us anything about. We were just hanging about. Uber from Watergardens to Castlemaine.” (Note: V/Line tells us this is related to the earlier track fault that cancelled trains between Watergardens and Sunbury)
Matt H: ”Sandringham stopped at Elsternwick in last 15 minutes so still impacted. No announcement at Richmond where I picked up the train.”
This blog will now close. Thank you for joining us today, and hope you get home safely!
Another line has joined Mernda and Hurstbridge in major delays as the evening peak continues: This time it’s the Sandringham line, with an extra 40 minutes being added to trains in both directions there.
Due to a track fault in the Brighton Beach area, “trains may remain stationary for extended periods at platforms or between stations, and select services may terminate/originate at intermediate stations,” Metro said.
People had to be evacuated from at least one train when the power failed in a breaker box at Clifton Hill this evening.
Footage shared online shows people being removed from the train earlier this evening, while another image shows a train apparently stuck on the rail bridge over the Alexandra Parade/Eastern Freeway.
There remain no updates into how long it will be before services are restored.
Jenny, from Eltham, a commuter waiting in the Parliament queue, ordered an Uber with four strangers who also live on the Hurstbridge line, but their Uber was cancelled as they waited, adding to the night’s frustration.
“Metro should refund us because I’ve tapped on in the [City] Loop,” she said.
She said Metro didn’t plan to handle disruptions, but she said it was “annoying” even though it was “outside of Metro’s control”.
“It may not be their fault.”
Darcie Gilmore, 32, also called a ride-share company. She said the DiDi trip home to Wattle Glen would cost $103.
Some good news for people in the north-west: The Department of transport has just confirmed trains are resuming between Sunbury and Watergardens after an earlier track fault there.
The first service into the city to get rolling will be the 6.26pm Sunbury to Anzac train, and in the other direction it’s the 5.37pm Anzac to Sunbury train.
“Buses may supplement some train services as they get back into regular frequency,” a spokesperson said.
No word on the Mernda and Hurstbridge lines outage at this stage.
As disruptions continue, one commuter has labelled the situation at Parliament station a “debacle”.
“There’s no one showing you where to go, what line you should be in, no directions. There’s no staff from Metro,” said Jenny, as she stood outside St Patrick’s Cathedral, several hundred metres from the replacement bus point.
Jenny said the timing was unfortunate, as she needed to get home quickly. “This sucks, it’s like … I can’t believe in 2026 that we’re in this situation.”
This is not the first time an incident at Clifton Hill train station has derailed the travel plans of Melburnians in the inner east and north-east.
In July 2025, a train partially derailed when its pantograph became tangled in the overhead wiring at Clifton Hill. That time, it took a whole week for train services to fully resume on the two lines.
Tonight’s delays have been caused by an overhead power fault at the same station. There remains no estimated time for restoration of that problem at this stage.
While the Upfield line servicing Brunswick and Coburg isn’t affected by these suspensions, some commuters in that area are also finding it harder getting home tonight.
An accident on Melville Road in Pascoe Vale South has delayed Route 58 trams in both directions by more than 30 minutes, with passengers being diverted onto the Route 19 tram down Sydney Road or the 512 and 513 buses to connect with Upfield trains.
The number of wet, weary travellers converging at state parliament has swelled into the hundreds, if not thousands.
That’s according to Maxine Hansen, who is among those waiting to get home. A friend of hers was on a train leaving the city when the Hurstbridge and Mernda line suspensions suddenly began.
“He was on the train, and then he had to get off at North Richmond, so it must have happened on his way home,” Hansen said.
“I haven’t seen any replacement buses yet.”
Large queues have formed outside Parliament station as commuters unable to catch trains home opt for either replacement buses or nearby trams.
Metro Trains is warning commuters that it will take at least an extra hour to get home tonight, and that they should consider alternative transport options if there are any available.
It’s an option those waiting in the bus queues are actively exploring. One traveller, Marion Osmond, is about to share an Uber with the person next to her in line for the buses.
She said the queues were “frustrating”, estimating she was standing in a line of 200 people.
Parts of three train lines have been suspended across Melbourne just as the evening peak takes off, with a mix of power failures and track faults causing delays of up to one hour.
In the city’s inner north-east a faulty power box at Clifton Hill station has forced the temporary pause on trains between Parliament station and Heidelberg on the Hurstbridge Line, with buses replacing trains between those stations.
Clifton Hill is also where the Mernda line separates from the Hurstbridge line. On the Mernda line, buses are replacing trains all the way up to Reservoir.
Meanwhile in the north-west, buses are replacing trains on the Sunbury Line between Watergardens and Sunbury due to a track fault. For each of the three lines, replacement buses will take an hour to arrive, Metro Trains warns.
There are no estimated restoration times for services on these three lines.
More to come.
