Trains delayed, traffic congested in city

COMMUTERS have been warned to expect delays of up to an hour on some parts of Brisbane's railway network.

Translink have advised buses are compensating for the reduced number of train services along the Cleveland line because of a signal fault near Manly, in Brisbane’s east.

Buses will run in both directions between Lota and Lindum from 7.35am and will stop at all stations, Translink said in a statement.

Queensland Rail technicians have arrived on-site and hope to fix the problem shortly.

Elsewhere, flooded roads after last night’s thunderstorms are adding to traffic woes for Brisbane motorists.

Motorists are being warned to avoid areas such as Paradise Rd at Larapinta between Learoyd Rd and the Logan Motorway after reports water was high enough to lap the bonnets of most sedans.

The Australian Traffic Network said to expect the usual delays on the run to work this morning.

“The M1 northbound is congested from Tanah Merah and Eight Mile Plains and the Bruce Highway is slow to the Pine River Bridge,” reporter Jay Lane said.

“Traffic is also heavy along Wynnum Rd and Lytton Rd from Morningside to Kangaroo Point.”

A crash between a cyclist and car about 7am is yet to be cleared at Verney Rd East at Graceville, near the roundabout on Nadine St.

An emergency services spokeswoman said paramedics took a 50-year-old man to the Princess Alexandra Hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency crews are on scene.

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Get our city's trains on track

The Transport Minister Terry Mulder, Ian Dobbs (CEO of Public Transport Victoria - PTV) and Andrew Lezala (Metro) at the new multi million dollar Train Stabling and Maintenance Facility at Craigieburn. Picture: Darren Tindale Source: Herald Sun

MELBOURNE'S train network chief has outlined his vision for the future, including extending existing lines and building a new concourse at Flinders St station to cope with increasing passengers.

Metro CEO Andrew Lezala said Melburnians needed to swap cars for public transport to help secure the city's future. 

Under Mr Lezala's vision:

SUBURBAN lines would be extended to Melton, Wallan and Baxter within the next 10 years;

SUPER-SIZED nine-carriage trains capable of carrying 1800 people and new signalling systems would double the network's capacity;

PRIVATE finance, developments above city train stations and different tax models would fund projects;

AN upper level western concourse would be built at Flinders St station to improve passenger flow and allow easier access to trams at Elizabeth St;

TRAINS would run every five to 10 minutes so passengers didn't need timetables;

THE Melbourne Metro tunnel would be the first of 16 underground lines built in the next 100 years; and

BUSES would become "feeders" to train stations rather than "duplicators".

Mr Lezala also took a swipe at the State Government for failing to invest properly in signalling.

"We have new signalling systems here ... with no redundancy in them so when we get a thunderstorm it fails - brand new systems - because we didn't have enough money to build redundancy in," he told a Metro breakfast.

"I think Treasury need to take that one, actually, because you get what you pay for."

He said a decline in train patronage from 228 million trips in 2010-11 to 222 million trips in 2011-12 was a "blip" and the numbers were set to surge along with Melbourne's population.

Currently, 10 per cent of all trips are on trains.

Public Transport Users Association president Tony Morton said: "If we were to pick just one thing out of Metro's wish-list and say 'do it now', it would be the high-capacity signalling."

amelia.harris@news.com.au

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Major delays for peak-hour trains

About 800 people are believed to be stuck at Moorabbin. Picture: Brendan Casey Source: Herald Sun

LATEST: MAJOR delays are affecting two major Melbourne train lines during this morning's peak rush.

Long delays are expected on the Frankston line after an incident near Bentleigh this morning.

Buses have replaced trains between Moorabbin and Caulfield in both directions.

More than 800 people are stranded at Moorabbin station as trains continue to terminate there.

Metro is urging commuters to "make other arrangements" and said the wait time to get on a connecting bus could be "up to an hour".

Police are on hand to manage the growing crowd.

The train that struck a car dumped on the train tracks beneath the Glenfern Rd rail bridge this morning. Picture: Steven Tanner

While in the city's east, two passengers and a driver were on a city-bound train when it collided with a car dumped on the tracks at Tecoma about 4.30am.

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Authorities reported there was no one was found in our around the car following the crash, about 35km from Melbourne's CBD.

Police believe the car was pushed over the edge of the Burwood Highway near the Glenfern Rd overpass overnight.

Services on the Belgrave line have been replaced with buses between Belgrave and Upper Ferntree Gully after the line was suspended.

Metro Trains spokesman Daniel Hoare confirmed no one was injured.

"There has been significant damage to the train.

"We are hoping to clear the by this afternoon," he said.

Passengers trying to fly out of Melbourne are also suffering delays at Tullamarine because of security screeners' industrial action.

The union says workers will be scrutinising each bag that comes through the check-points, in a move that's expected to cause long queues and delays.

Passengers on domestic Qantas and Jetstar flights are being advised to arrive one hour earlier than usual.

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Trains resume after peak-hour delays

PEAK-hour commuters are experiencing major delays on the Werribee and Williamstown train lines this morning.

Delays of at least 30 minutes hit both lines following an earlier signal fault at Kensington South, according to information on Metro’s website.

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However, the lines cleared within hours, and as of 8am the delays were downgraded to "minor". By 10.30am there were none listed.

A Metro spokeswoman said the fault struck at 5.45am, with delays ballooning up to 40 minutes.

She said temporary repairs were done on the point failure, reducing the delays to 30 minutes.

Services are expected to run normally for the rest of the morning.

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