Peak-hour pain for train commuters

COMMUTERS will experience lengthy delays on the Werribee and Williamstown lines this morning due to a track fault at Newport.

Buses are replacing trains on the Williamstown line between Williamstown and Footscray while the fault is being investigated.

Metro spokesman Daniel Hoare said 30 buses have been ordered, but delays of 30 minutes were expected.

"Due to the signal fault we've got crews working to establish where the fault is," Mr Hoare said.

Mr Hoare said it was unknown how long services will be suspended for.

All city-bound Werribee services will run via the Altona Loop line, and outbound services will run direct from Newport to Laverton.

Meanwhile, Cranbourne, Frankston and Pakenham city-bound customers are told to expect delays of up to 15 minutes due to a train fault at South Yarra.

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V/Line spokesman Colin Tyrus said the track fault was also causing delays of up to 20 minutes on Geelong services.

"The journey may take 15 to 20 minutes longer at this stage," he said.

"Delays affected the first V/Line service of the day from Geelong at 5am."

Mr Tyrus said there were earlier delays of up to 60 minutes on Geelong services, but they are now down to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, a semi-trailer that has tipped over on the South Gippsland Freeway is causing minor delays for motorists.

The back half of the semi-trailer tipped in the centre medium strip inbound just before the Princes Hwy in Dandenong South about 7am.

It is believed a car and the semi-trailer collided on the freeway, causing it to tip over.

Ambulance Victoria spokesman Paul Bentley said a woman was treated at the scene with minor injuries and emotional distress.

She was later taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a stable condition.

The condition of the driver is currently unknown.

A collision in West Melbourne on the Bolte Bridge involving a truck and several cars is also causing traffic delays.

Jessica.evans@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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