Sydney Trains push to restore timetables ahead of peak-hour commute

Urgent work is underway to restore train services to their regular timetable ahead of afternoon peak hour after a snapped cable caused massive delays.

Thousands of commuters had their morning commutes impacted after an overhead cable snapped between Chatswood and Artarmon stations in North Sydney early on Tuesday.

Transport NSW said the issue ”necessitated urgent repairs to the overhead wiring at Chatswood Station, which halted all city-bound trains on Tuesday morning”.

The urgent repairs caused city-bound trains on the T1 North Shore Line to be replaced by buses between Gordon and Chatswood, while trains along the T9 Northern Line were also impacted.

One commuter said the delays caused a number of people to become “packed on the Metro line”.

“There’s people actually pushing in, squeezing into the carriages, which is not very pleasant,” they said.

Sydney Trains CEO Matt Longland apologised to commuters who were hit with the delays but noted the “power line issue has now been repaired”.

“The line’s been re-energised and we are now operating services again on the T1 and the T9 line,” Longland said.

While the issue has been repaired, officials are now racing to restore services to their original timetable before the after school and work rush.

“We’ve got two hours before the PM peak starts and that’s our priority at the moment,” Longland said at 1pm.

“We’ve got additional staff that we’ve called in, additional train crew and also additional staff at stations to assist passengers.

“So for anybody travelling this afternoon, our advice is that they should plan for a normal timetable to be operating across all lines.

“However, keep an eye on social media ... for any incidents or any updates over the next few hours.”