HUNDREDS of V/Line travellers were left stranded last Wednesday, July 8 and early into Thursday when a Telstra outage halted all regional V/Line rail services.
A notice was issued via V/Line’s website, urging travellers to make alternative plans due to the limited number of bus replacement services available to passengers.
Crowds of commuters sprawling out of Southern Cross Station’s bus terminal on Wednesday evening were told by V/Line workers there would be no train services the following morning, affecting Shepparton, Seymour, Ballarat, Gippsland and Geelong lines.
Train services resumed by noon Thursday, July 9, after extensive testing of the train’s communication network was deemed stable.
V/Line’s roof-mounted antennas rely on Telstra for trains to connect and communicate with control centres and to share real-time updates across the rail network, ensuring safe and reliable travel.
Telstra CFO Michael Ackland says the outage has now been resolved with all train lines back up and operating.
V/Line services were free Monday, July 13 and Tuesday, July 14 to compensate travellers for the disruption.
