Passengers travelling on V/Line’s morning services on Thursday, February 16 were left confused and late to work following track contamination.
Coaches replaced trains between Southern Cross and Seymour due to an oil leak discovered just before 8am and causing track contamination and initial delays of up to 70 minutes.
The leak was the result of an animal strike near Kilmore East by the 5.17am Shepparton to Southern Cross service.
While crews inspected about 11km of track, three Melbourne-bound services terminated at Broadford, Kilmore East and Wallan, with replacement coaches called in to transport passengers for the rest of their journeys to Melbourne.
The 7.05am service from Seymour was first to be delayed however commuters were not alerted by V/Line of the service change until 8.44am when it was dubbed a ‘minor’ delay.
The 9.06am Shepparton to Southern Cross did not run and terminated at Seymour while the 10.36am Southern Cross to Seymour service did not run.
Trains began running with delays and alterations to the stops, with the 12.16pm Seymour to Southern Cross service not stopping at Heathcote Junction before a V/Line spokesperson informed The Review at 1.49pm that the service had resumed normal operation.
A V/Line spokesperson thanked passengers for their patience.
“We thank passengers for their patience and understanding while [we] worked to resume Seymour and Shepparton Line services as quickly and safely as possible following this morning’s track fault,” they said.
“The fault occurred in a section of track between Kilmore East and Wandong and only affected Melbourne-bound services.”
Passengers can keep up-to-date on service changes via the V/Line website, app and X, formerly known as Twitter, feed, as well as announcements at stations and onboard services.
