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Category: Public Sector / State Parliament / Rail Transport / Travel Health and Safety / safety

V/Line boom gate problem shuts down Warrnambool rail line

Thursday, 17 Nov 2016 14:14:14 | Bridget Judd

V-Line was plagued with problems in January this year. (Supplied: Andrew McPherson)

The discovery of another boom gate safety problem has prompted Victorian rail authorities to halt V/Line services on the Warrnambool line in the state's south-west until next week.

The regional rail provider confirmed lights, bells and boom gates at a level crossing between Camperdown and Terang failed to activate for the designated warning time this morning.

The fault's detection has come after problems that plagued the network in January as V/Line trains were suspended from using metropolitan rail lines due a similar incident with boom gates on the Traralgon line.

That suspension, coupled with unrelated wheel problems, caused weeks of mass cancellations across the network, resulting in high-level resignations and leading to free services for two weeks.

V/Line spokesman Rob Curtain said of this week's incident that safety was the company's "number one priority".

"There was no danger to passengers, staff or road users, but V/Line is undertaking a full investigation and initiating a range of additional safety measures to ensure there is no risk," he said in a statement.

"These include additional inspections [and] the reconfiguring of frequencies and other settings on level crossings."

Coaches would replace rail services until early next week, he said.

Government is too city-centric: Opposition

Victoria Opposition Leader Matthew Guy called on Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan to step down over the latest line closure.

"If Jacinta Allan can't guarantee the basics of her own portfolio, that is to keep railway lines open, then she should look for another job," he said.

"It just shows the Government is so Melbourne-centric it doesn't understand that closing a rail line like this will have an impact not just on passengers, but millions of dollars of impact for the economy, freight and local business."

The ABC has contacted Ms Allan's office for comment.

Meanwhile, a report released today revealed the Public Transport Ombudsman received 153 complaints about V/Line between January and June 2016, compared with 90 in the previous six months.

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