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Seaford rail outage spreads to Grange line

Thursday, 28 Apr 2016 13:39:27

The impact of an electrical outage on two Adelaide rail lines has spread to a third. (ABC News)

Furious Adelaide rail passengers facing further lengthy delays this afternoon are demanding to know if an electrical fault affecting peak-hour services on the Seaford and Tonsley lines could have been avoided.

Services have been replaced by substitute buses and the problem, which initially started on Adelaide's only electrified rail lines, will not be fixed this afternoon, Adelaide Metro said.

Its impact has also spread to other routes, with rail cars to be taken off the Grange line this afternoon so diesel trains can provide a shuttle service between Adelaide and Brighton.

The Transport Department does not know when services will resume as normal, and said delays could continue into tomorrow.

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Spokeswoman Caroline Kelly said the main priority was to get the services up and running before an investigation into the cause was undertaken.

"We don't have an exact time for when electric trains will be back online but what we're doing is taking diesel services off other lines," she said.

Diesel trains from Adelaide to Brighton will run every 15 minutes, and then every half hour from 7:30pm.

Substitute buses are also being provided for passengers on the Tonsley and Grange lines.

Rail network 'needs to be fixed', angry passenger says

One frustrated passenger said it was not the first time the Seaford line had experienced recent disruptions.

"Same time last week, same thing," she said.

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"It needs to be fixed. You look at the trains in Victoria, this never happens. Take a leaf out of their book."

"I'm sick of this system. It was put together by a load of monkeys but monkeys are smarter than this. It's always going wrong," another said after disembarking at Noarlunga.

Another said the rail cars should have back-up diesel generators that would make them immune to power failures.

Opposition spokesman David Pisoni said the Seaford line had been beset with problems since being electrified two years ago.

"We had the issues with the collapsing, high-voltage overhead capable that was breaking and falling on to the ground," he said.

"We then learnt that asbestos had been used in rail infrastructure and now this morning, the whole system has been shut down and six hours later we're still no wiser as to the reasons why."

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