Crashes, derailments and dimwits
Sunday 7 April 2024
Miscellaneous accidents from around the place: derailments, clueless passengers, and broken bits and pieces.
Motorists delaying trams
Friday 15 March 2024
Wherever you go in Melbourne you are certain to find some moron who doesn't know how to drive, either queuing through an intersection or overhanging a tram lane, resulting in delays to dozens of tram passengers.
Napier Street railway bridge strike, March 2024
Sunday 3 March 2024
The railway bridge that carries the Williamstown and Werribee lines over Napier Street has a long history of being struck by high vehicles - 3 March 2024 was yet another example.
Smashed up Melbourne tram stops
Sunday 3 March 2024
Melbourne has an endless supply of idiot motorists ready to crash into tram stops.
Siemens train recovery, 2024
Monday 8 January 2024
On the morning of Monday 8 January 2024 a Siemens train on a down Sandringham service encountered an issue with the overhead at Richmond Junction, destroying all four pantographs on the train. The Sandringham line was shut down from the day due to the train blocking the line. That evening V/Line shunting locomotive Y156 was despatched from Southern Cross Station to assist in the recovery. It entered the section and coupled up to the Siemens train using a transition coupler, first removing set 749M-2525T-750M and taking it to Flinders Street track 9a, then returning to remove set 772M-2536T-771M from the site as well.
V/Line carriage platform strikes
Thursday 14 December 2023
V/Line's fleet of carriages have been known to strike platforms while passing through platforms at speed, resulting in scraped paint on the carriage side.
Smashed sign at Sunshine station
Tuesday 24 October 2023
What happens when you put a road sign right beside a tight corner, on a footpath leading through the Sunshine station car park? Clueless motorists drive over the top of it, over and over again.
Siemens train recovery, 2023
Tuesday 1 August 2023
On Monday 31 July 2023 a Powercor 22kV power line fell across the railway line at Laverton, causing a power surge on the 1500V DC traction power supply, bringing down the overhead, and cooking two Siemens trains. The next day N456 was out sent to assist, recovering the stranded Siemens trains as individual 3-car sets.
Damaged level crossing at Brooklyn
Monday 13 February 2023
Clueless truck drivers have a history of destroying the level crossing lights located at the corner of Somerville and McDonald Road in Brooklyn.
Pacific National Bethungra derailment 2022
Friday 30 September 2022
On 15 January 2022 Pacific National freight train 6MB4 derailed while traversing the Bethungra Spiral northbound, with container wagons RRAY 7213S, RRQY 8515T and QQCY 1120F damaged along with a number of loaded containers.
SCT Bomen derailment 2021
Thursday 29 September 2022
On 15 April 2021 northbound SCT service MB9 derailed at Bomen, putting locomotives SCT005 and SCT013 into the dirt. Accident damaged container wagon PQKY 7012V and louvred vans ABSY 4447K and ABSY 4488F were removed from the site, and dumped nearby at Bomen.
Pacific National derailment at McIntyre, August 2022
Thursday 18 August 2022
On the morning of Thursday 18 August 2022 a Pacific National standard gauge grain train arriving into #3 road at McIntyre Loop had the tracks split apart beneath the wagons at the rear, leaving their bogies in the dirt. The remaining wagons were shunted clear to clear the tracks, leaving the derailed wagons to be recovered later.
Sunshine bus crash
Sunday 19 June 2022
Some dumbarse driver managed to put their car through the front door of a Transit Systems bus, writing off their car in the process.
Southern Shorthaul Railroad derailment at West Footscray
Friday 1 April 2022
On Thursday 31 March 2022 a down grain train led by S317, T363 and P14 headed into Tottenham Yard, but P14 derailed on a set of points and ended up split between two tracks. Recovery of the train took a few days to complete.
Crumbling station building at Newmarket
Sunday 27 March 2022
A look at the crumbling citybound station building at Newmarket station on the Craigieburn line, where everything is falling apart. The cantilevered platform verandah was reinforced with acrow props in 2012 and demolished in 2013. As for the piers holding everything up, even bigger acrow props have been installed to counteract the failing concrete piers and beams.
Broken articulation on D2.5015
Friday 18 March 2022
On 18 March 2022 the articulation between modules of tram D2.5015 failed, leaving the cab dropped onto the tracks.
Peel Street tram dewirement, January 2020
Friday 10 January 2020
On 10 January 2020 a truck took out the tramway overhead on route 58 at Queen Victoria Market, resulting in the route 57 and 58 trams being diverted, and the closure of William, Peel and Dudley Streets.
Sunbury line train stuck at South Kensington, December 2019
Monday 30 December 2019
On 30 December 2019 trains on the Werribee line were disrupted due to a power failure, so Metro sent a citybound Sunbury line train across to the platforms at South Kensington station to pick up stranded passengers. Unfortunately the power was also off at there, so the train came to a halt halfway into the platform, blocking both pairs of tracks!
Stuck brakes on a Comeng train, November 2019
Sunday 17 November 2019
On 17 November 2019 Comeng carriage 641M was in the middle of a down Sunbury service when the brakes got stuck on, leaving a trail of smoke from North Melbourne to Middle Footscray, before the train finally came to a halt, shutting down rail services on the line for an hour.
Level crossing accidents at North Shore, Geelong
Tuesday 29 October 2019
I’m not sure what is in the water down in Geelong, but the boom gates at the North Shore Road / Station Street level crossing next to North Shore station seem to spend more time under cars than stopping them.
Fender bender on Elizabeth Street, July 2019
Friday 26 July 2019
On 26 July 2019 a delivery van tried to turn from Elizabeth Street into Little Collins Street, and was cleaned up by tram B2.2034 headed south on route 59
Siemens train recovery, 2019
Tuesday 14 May 2019
On May 13, 2019 Siemens train 743M-2522T-744M + 766M-2533T-765M on a down Werribee service encountered damaged overhead wiring outside Laverton, resulting in the train being disabled. The next day N470 and N466 were sent to assist with the recovery of the train to the Newport Workshops, with chains and transition couplers used to join them together. Siemens trains lack a continuous brake pipe through each 3-car set, so a locomotive was needed at each end of the train to allow the consist to move.
Armaguard delaying trams in the Bourke Street Mall
Monday 8 April 2019
An Armaguard crew drove into the Bourke Street Mall then had their armoured van break down. Eventually a massive tilt tray truck arrived, delaying trams for five minutes while it was lifted onto the back.
Derailed tram at Spencer and Flinders Street, March 2019
Thursday 28 March 2019
On 28 March 2019 tram E2.6059 went to turn from Spencer into Flinders Street with a MCG bound football special service, when the first bogie of the middle section came off the tracks.
Flagstaff station police operation, May 2019
Thursday 28 March 2019
On 28 March 2019 someone onboard a train mistook a busker with a didgeridoo for someone with a rifle, sparking a full blown police response that shut down the entire City Loop for morning peak.
Trams stalled on section insulator
Monday 18 March 2019
The network of overhead wires used to power trams are divided into multiple electrical sections, so that faults can be isolated and maintenance work completed in safety. However if a tram stops with the pantograph resting in the middle of a section insulator, getting the tram moving again is hard work!
Stuck van at the Swanston Street tram stop, February 2019
Monday 11 February 2019
A delivery driver headed north up Swanston Street came to the end of the road at Bourke Street, and decided to drive down the bike lane. He ended up driving his van the edge of the tram stop platform, getting stuck on the tram tracks. Northbound trams on Swanston Street had to run 'bang road' to the Flinders Lane crossover to escape the obstruction, with services delayed for 40 minutes until a tilt tray track was able to extract his vehicle from the predicament.
Flooded tram tracks on St Kilda Road, December 2018
Friday 14 December 2018
In December 2018 flash flooding hit Melbourne, flooding the tram tracks on St Kilda Road and delaying services.
Qube derailment, December 2017
Saturday 23 December 2017
On December 23, 2017 Qube's 6CM7 Harefield to Melbourne service came to a halt at McIntyre Loop, supposedly due to a broken rail. Lead locomotive QBX001 had to be rerailed, and was then taken off the train and stabled at the G&V wagon maintenance yard, while L277 arrived light engine to assist remaining locomotive QBX004 to bring the train into Melbourne.
VLocity derailment, September 2017
Monday 25 September 2017
On September 25, 2017 VLocity VL51 derailed at the north end of Southern Cross platform 6. Two bogies ended up off the rails, with jacks being used to get them back onto the rails.
Sprinter derailment, July 2017
Friday 28 July 2017
On July 28 2017 Sprinter 7010 derailed at the southern end of Southern Cross platform 6 and 7, with one one axle leaving the rails
Accident damaged SW6.866, May 2017
Wednesday 24 May 2017
On 24 May 2017 a truck collided with tram SW6.866 at the corner of Flinders and Spencer Street.
CountryLink XPT derailment, July 2014
Monday 1 May 2017
On the morning of July 11, 2014 the Sydney-bound XPT derailed just outside Southern Cross Station, where the dual gauge tracks over the North Melbourne flyover split into separate standard and broad gauge tracks. The newly rebuilt tracks has just opened for service that morning.
Fire damaged Sprinter 7012, December 2016
Saturday 8 April 2017
On December 2, 2016 Sprinter 7012 caught fire at Seymour station, with a fault in the electrical cabinet believed to be the cause. The damaged train was transferred to Melbourne the next day.
Y129 derailment at Southern Cross, January 2017
Tuesday 3 January 2017
On 3 January 2017 Y129 derailed Southern Cross Station, while shunting around with the carriage yards with an N class locomotive. It was rerailed with the assistance of a heavy lift crane.
Flipped truck under the Flinders Street Viaduct, February 2016
Monday 1 February 2016
On 1 February 2016 an overheight truck attempted to pass under the Flinders Street Viaduct at Spencer Street but failed, ending up sideways.
Evacuating a failed V/Line train at Albion, November 2015
Thursday 26 November 2015
On November 26, 2015 a down Bendigo train failed outside Albion station, blocking the Sunbury line for hours. Eventually the V/Line train was limped into the platform at Albion, allowing passenger to wait for buses, with the suburban train behind being eventually evacuated as well
Napier Street railway bridge strike, October 2015
Thursday 1 October 2015
The railway bridge that carries the Williamstown and Werribee lines over Napier Street has a long history of being struck by high vehicles - October 1st 2015 was yet another example.
Siemens train static inverter issues
Monday 17 August 2015
In December 2014 it was discovered that Melbourne's fleet of Siemens trains had been fitted with defective capacitors in the static inverter unit found beneath the train floor, resuling in a number of explosions. As an interim workaround fire blankets and tie down straps were fitted around the equipment boxes to reduce the risk.
Rescuing a failed W class tram, July 2015
Sunday 26 July 2015
On July 26 tram W6.983 failed while running a City Circle service, and had to be rescued by classmate SW6.961
Evacuating Metrol, June 2015
Thursday 18 June 2015
On 18 June 2015 the Metrol train control centre was evacuated due to a false fire alarm, which resulted in every train in Melbourne having to stop for 15 minutes until train controllers could return.
Galvin train crash, August 2014
Tuesday 18 November 2014
On August 22 2014 an empty VLocity train (VL05-12-39, 7 cars) ran into the rear of a Metro Trains service between Galvin and Paisley on the Werribee line.
VLocity transfer to Bendigo, November 2014
Tuesday 4 November 2014
B75 and T386 transferred an accident damaged VLocity set VL12 to Bendigo on November 4, 2014. The set was involved in an incident on August 22 2014, when empty VLocity train (VL05-12-39, 7 cars) ran into the rear of a Metro Trains service between Galvin and Paisley on the Werribee line.
Unsafe 'safety' zone in Ascot Vale
Tuesday 14 October 2014
Located on Epsom Road at Flemington Drive in Ascot Vale, stop 30 on route 57 seems to get wiped out by dimwitted drivers a few times a year. Southbound traffic is required to slew sideways to avoid a right turn lane, which seems to be too hard for some drivers, who plow straight into the safety zone fence.
V/Line - Failed Sprinter, June 2014
Thursday 12 June 2014
Around 7am outside North Melbourne V/Line service operated by Sprinter railcars and bound for Bacchus Marsh failed. Two Comeng trains ended up behind the failed consist, but didn't appear to assist in the recovery.
Flooded platform at Ascot Vale
Tuesday 11 March 2014
First it leaked, and then it burst - that's what happened to a water main beneath the platform at Ascot Vale station.
Rescuing a failed Z3 class tram, October 2013
Monday 21 October 2013
On 21 October 2013 Z3.212 failed somewhere, so classmate Z3.126 was sent out on a rescue mission to drag the tram home to Essendon Depot.
Rescuing a failed D2 class tram, October 2013
Monday 7 October 2013
On 7 October 2013 D2.2009 failed somewhere on route 96, so classmate D2.5020 was sent out on a rescue mission to drag the tram home to Southbank Depot.
Wild winds delay Ascot Vale trams, October 2013
Tuesday 1 October 2013
On the night of September 30 strong winds blew the roof from an apartment block in Maribyrnong Road in Ascot Vale, blocking trams on routes 57 and 82 until the wreckage was removed.