Premier Chris Minns has apologised for the significant train delays that rocked Sydney commuters for two days, with reduced services to continue throughout the day..


“I want to say from the get-go that rail performance for Sydney Trains in New South Wales has not been good enough,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

“People who rely on the public transport system, we’ve let them down … and we need to make sure that people have got confidence that if they go to the train station to get to and from work, they can get to work and home from work in a reasonable time.  That’s not happening.”

Minns said the government was “on a very short leash” from commuters “who are demanding answers as to why they can’t get reliability on the public transport network”.

He said the government was considering a “short and sharp” review of Sydney trains.  “The consistency in the network is not there,” he said. “Punctuality is not there. We know that we have to turn it round.”

Minns told 2GB on Wednesday morning: “We’ve got to get better, this is nowhere near good enough, and it’s certainly not on par with international standards.





Meantime...

Sydney Trains awarded for diversity and safety
https://www.railexpress.com.au/sydney-trains-awarded-for-diversity-and-safety/
Australasian Railway Association (ARA) chief executive officer and ARI Awards judging chair Caroline Wilkie congratulated Sydney Trains for its outstanding safety initiatives and impressive improvements in diversity and inclusion.
Under Sydney Trains’ Train Crewing Equity, Diversity and Inclusion program, female trainees increased from 21.6 per cent to 53.3 per cent between 2017 and 2022 and non-frontline women roles increased from 25.1 per cent to 41 per cent.



So the trains are crap but diversity is excellent.

The electrification of NSW railways began with electric trains first running on the Illawarra Line in June 1926. By 1965 some electricians had been trained to connect 2 wires and in early 2011 all power-poles had voltage some of the time.

'Normal services aren’t expected to resume until tomorrow morning. Trains are currently running four to five times more slowly than usual.'

The usual slowness is normal but can be more slower. Last year a slow train reached a record slow of .00563 mm/hour. It's the current, they run slow currents from turbines having industrial disputes but should be only two times more slowly tomorrow.

Minns, who should we replace him with from the labor ranks?


He can’t run the Sydney train network let alone the state!

No wonder everyone is moving interstate to escape!

I can't find any pictures which explain what happened.


https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/may/20/high-voltage-wire-collapses-on-sydney-train-leaving-300-trapped-and-causing-major-delays-across-network


Sydney commuters warned of ‘knock-on effects’ after
high-voltage wire falls on train causing major delays


Sydney commuters have been warned there could be “knock-on effects” on Wednesday morning after high-voltage wire fell on the top of a train on Tuesday afternoon, trapping 300 passengers and causing massive disruption across the city during the evening rush.

Howard Collins, the coordinator general for Transport for NSW, told reporters the incident happened at 2.30pm on Tuesday, leaving 300 passengers trapped at Strathfield in Sydney’s inner west and other trains stranded when the power was switched off.

Transport for NSW teams worked to allow passengers to safely leave the train and three others that had been stopped for safety reasons, with Collins telling reporters: “It’s life threatening if you get very near or touch wires with that amount of voltage … it will kill you straight away.”

“The most important thing here is safety, making sure we do that under safe conditions and there’s no risk of the power being switched on by accident or other means,” Collins said.

On Tuesday evening, the NSW transport minister, John Graham, said the passengers had “been taken off the stranded train that was entangled in wiring, as well as three other trains that were stopped with passengers onboard”.

“This is a very serious incident in a critical part of the rail network and we apologise to all train passengers affected and trying to get home tonight. The position of the train at Strathfield is [at] a major artery of the network and has caused huge disruption,” he said.

Sydney Trains is investigating the root cause of the incident.

'Trains across the network were brought to a halt about 2.30pm on Tuesday after part of a train’s rooftop power connecter became tangled with overhead powerlines at Lidcombe, in the city’s west. About 7am [Wednesday], power was restored between Lidcombe and Ashfield, allowing the six lines to operate as normal, NSW Transport Minister John Graham told Today.
NSW Premier Chris Minns has apologised for the significant train delays that have rocked Sydney commuters for two days, but services would continue to be disrupted until at least Thursday morning'.
--
So 16 hours to replace a cable. With full power, the trains are still disrupted for another 24 hours. 

(The Chinese navy was a big surprise, and luckily their radio message about live-firing was heard by Virgin Airways). 
(Chris Minns was able to enter parliament when a pedestrian showed him where the front door is located. A staffer helped him push the door instead of trying to pull it open.)

Should politicians wages be directly linked to KPI figures?

You know, like most of us working to earn half the money they are given ( as apart to earn) let alone rorts and perks and pensions and their beloved elite Qantas chairman lounge.

I’m responsible confident that once our politicians are held accountable for their complete incompetence via a finical penalty.

Suddenly things will improve drastically?

Gotta squeeeeeze all those Indians, Chinese and Moslems into those carriages.

How the hell can a train get tangled in overhead wires?  -

the maintenance must be piss poor.    :-[

Towing engines are ready to haul trains off the Harbour Bridge when it sags in the middle.

chimera wrote on May 21^st, 2025 at 7:21pm:

'Trains across the network were brought to a halt about 2.30pm on Tuesday after part of a train’s rooftop power connecter became tangled with overhead powerlines at Lidcombe, in the city’s west. About 7am [Wednesday], power was restored between Lidcombe and Ashfield, allowing the six lines to operate as normal, NSW Transport Minister John Graham told Today. NSW Premier Chris Minns has apologised for the significant train delays that have rocked Sydney commuters for two days, but services would continue to be disrupted until at least Thursday morning'. -- So 16 hours to replace a cable. With full power, the trains are still disrupted for another 24 hours.  (The Chinese navy was a big surprise, and luckily their radio message about live-firing was heard by Virgin Airways).  (Chris Minns was able to enter parliament when a pedestrian showed him where the front door is located. A staffer helped him push the door instead of trying to pull it open.)

It's called a "pantograph".... just one word needed.

It is a not uncommon occurrence.

What seemed to be the trouble was a backup contingency . to get people to other locations - to continue their journeys.

The whole Sydney Trains overhead system did not need to be switched off.

They have switching mechanisms to isolate certain areas.

Pantograph problems. 'There was a spark as the foreign object touched the pantograph,” the official said.'The train stopped for 30 minutes and later resumed its onward journey'.

https://theprint.in/india/object-falls-on-roof-of-train-coach-during-thunderstorm-in-bengal-no-one-injured-er-official/2633634/

Bengali train very much trouble, goodness me, and much excitement among many crowds on troubled railway journey. People shouting and crying, sparks and noise, such upset at Railway Service, never should happen again.

[quote author=bobbythebat1 link=1747805618/8#8 date=1747867801]
How the hell can a train get tangled in overhead wires?  -

the maintenance must be piss poor.    :-[/quote]

Look it up .... faults happen in all things mechanical.

The pantograph on the train is hydraulicly(air) lifted to make contact with the high voltage overhead wires.

That allows the overhead 25,000 volts to travel down into the trains transformer which reduces the current to around 4,000 volts to power the traction motors on each suburban unit.

The overhead is 25,000 volts to manage the number of trains operating and drawing current through out the system.

In strategic locations there are sub-stations to maintain the required voltage along with neutral sections. Neutral sections are just a few mtrs long and keep wires fed from different sources electrically separate from each other. To avoid drawing an arc from one wire to the next the train automatically stops drawing power, although the pantograph remains raised.

The overhead catenary wires are kept taut by use of heavy weights every klm or so... sometimes shorter distance depending on the number of tracks & wiring for each.

If a pantograph has a fault e.g. something on it like the  Graphite and graphite-based composite material on top of the slide plate that makes contact with the catenary wire is worn through or cracks it can catch the wire and pull it down.

No big deal. I have been involved with that sort of occurrence quite a few times in my railway career.

Gnads wrote on May 22^nd, 2025 at 1:45pm:

can catch the wire and pull it down. .

shock horror. A tangled wire.  *** we have a situation, all units come in. Stage Red. Prepare for massive implosion of Sydney Regional Hardware***

Gnads wrote on May 22^nd, 2025 at 1:45pm:

[quote author=bobbythebat1 link=1747805618/8#8 date=1747867801] How the hell can a train get tangled in overhead wires?  - the maintenance must be piss poor.    :-[/quote] Look it up .... faults happen in all things mechanical. The pantograph on the train is hydraulicly(air) lifted to make contact with the high voltage overhead wires. That allows the overhead 25,000 volts to travel down into the trains transformer which reduces the current to around 4,000 volts to power the traction motors on each suburban unit. The overhead is 25,000 volts to manage the number of trains operating and drawing current through out the system. In strategic locations there are sub-stations to maintain the required voltage along with neutral sections. Neutral sections are just a few mtrs long and keep wires fed from different sources electrically separate from each other. To avoid drawing an arc from one wire to the next the train automatically stops drawing power, although the pantograph remains raised. The overhead catenary wires are kept taut by use of heavy weights every klm or so... sometimes shorter distance depending on the number of tracks & wiring for each. If a pantograph has a fault e.g. something on it like the  Graphite and graphite-based composite material on top of the slide plate that makes contact with the catenary wire is worn through or cracks it can catch the wire and pull it down. No big deal. I have been involved with that sort of occurrence quite a few times in my railway career.

"which reduces the current to around 4,000 volts ?"

you mean - which reduces the voltage to around 4,000 volts.   ::)

Gnads wrote on May 22^nd, 2025 at 1:45pm:

I have been involved with that sort of occurrence quite a few times in my railway career.

Did you...erm...set up the ..er...wires at Lidcombe, by any chance..?

[quote author=bobbythebat1 link=1747805618/8#8 date=1747867801]
How the hell can a train get tangled in overhead wires?  -

the maintenance must be piss poor.    :-[/quote]
The cable broke, to do maintenance work checking the internal condition of electrical overhead wires requires the power to be turned off.
When the power is off trains cannot run so it’s a trade off, low maintenance or trains carrying passengers.
The only solutions are non electric locomotives on standby for maintenance days or seperate the power distribution so that each main line is a stand alone entity and can continue to operate when other lines are stopped.
Expensive, yes, but a country that can afford $368 billion for Steam Submarines can afford it.

Here we see 7 experts discussing how to check a wire. After 40 hours, success! The wire was a good wire.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05-22/sydney-train-outage-and-delays-explained/105318376

I watched Missing Minns live cross today.
Poorly dressed, hair stupid, he sounded and looked like a stoner!

Labor must do better than this halfwit for a State Leader?

It appears he asked for a short, sharp explanation from Rail Tech.

'Yeah, well it's the converter interchange node..the um.. er..back-up flow relay matrix switch compounding-bar watt amplifier needed double inter-linkage circuit blah. So we integrated a Sloppy Fizz screw-aligner between Lidcombe and Adelaide for unified field gravity at 13% overtime sickies and plugged the pantograph. It took 40 hours.'

'NSW Police have warned of the dangers of dangerous debris and animals – including snakes and vermin – lurking in flood waters, and urged residents to steer clear of the rising waters.'

Sharks are possible in trains, with electricity problems and cholera. If your train is cut off from food supplies, you are able to apply for emergency drops. Gather in small groups on train roofs.