All regional train services in Victoria have been suspended due to a radio network error linked to the nationwide Telstra outage.
Services on the Bendigo, Seymour, Gippsland, Geelong and Ballarat lines were suspended on Wednesday morning.
“The V/Line network has been impacted by the nationwide Telstra outage,” a V/Line spokesperson said.
“This has resulted in significant impacts to our passengers this morning with no trains able to run on the V/Line network.”
The nationwide Telstra outage left millions of Australians unable to make phone calls or access the internet.
Dozens of passengers waited at Southern Cross Station in Melbourne for services to resume. (ABC News)
It has also affected train services in several states.
V/Line said it was “assessing the situation and will advise when trains will resume”.
The operator said there was “no estimated time for rectification at this stage”.
Replacement coaches are operating from Southern Cross Station, but V/Line said space on the coaches was “very limited”.
“Passengers are advised to defer travel where possible,”
a spokesperson said.Regional commuters thrown by train outage
Train passenger Simone said she was stuck on a train at Ballan, north-west of Melbourne.
“The V/Line staff don’t know about any [replacement] coaches or anything,” she told ABC Radio Melbourne.
“We’ve been told Ballan doesn’t have any Ubers, taxis or anything like that, so we’re just stuck here until we get more information.”
A commuter checks their phone while waiting for V/Line services to resume at Melbourne’s Southern Cross Station. (ABC News)
Tobi Harris from Briagolong, in Gippsland, said she was stuck on a train at Sale for an hour and 45 minutes and was unable to attend TAFE at Warragul.
“I’m kind of missing out on all the introductions, meeting new people, connecting with people, connecting with my teachers and stuff like that, so it’s been a bit of a day,” she said.
“I travel on the V-Line quite often so I’ve experienced actually quite a few of these delays, we’ve got tradies that go on the trains in the morning, we’ve got people going to interviews, people going to their jobs and uni.”
Tobu Harris said she was stuck on a train at Sale for an hour and 45 minutes on Wednesday morning. (ABC News: Jack Franco Colantuono)
Gippsland resident Wendy Farmer was up early to catch the 5:59am train from Moe to Melbourne for a conference, but was now stuck at Warragul Station.
“We can get off the train and just wait outside the station, but it’s pretty cold out there at the moment,” she said.
Ms Farmer said V/Line staff had advised commuters that if they could make their way to Pakenham, they could continue into the city on the metro train network.
“I’m not sure how we’re going to get there. It’s a long walk!”
“I just feel like saying, ‘Hey guys, I’m on Optus, you can borrow my phone for communication if you like.'”
Anurag Sharma couldn’t take passengers in his taxi in Ballarat as his meter wouldn’t work due to the Telstra outage. (ABC News: Eden Hynninen)
Ballarat taxi driver Anurag Sharma said he would normally be busy with so many people needing alternative transport, but the Telstra outage meant he couldn’t take passengers.
“I dropped a few people and they can’t pay me so I said don’t worry about the money. I can’t run the meter,” he said.
“I’m just sitting around now, just wasting time. But that’s what it is, we can’t do anything.”