Winds cause commuter chaos

Rail services have resumed between North Sydney and the city's Wynyard station after a major disruption caused by an incident on the Harbour Bridge this afternoon.

All peak-hour rail services across the Harbour Bridge were cancelled after a hatch broke off a train during strong winds, bringing down the overhead lines.

Winds knock out Harbour Bridge trains

PASSENGERS have been evacuated from a train on the Sydney Harbour Bridge after strong winds knocked down wires, throwing the city into commuter chaos.
The eight-car, northbound train was stranded near the bridge's southern pylon, a CityRail spokesman said.

“Winds have caused the problem ... electricity wires are down,” the spokesman told Southern Cross Broadcasting.

“It's in a difficult area and that's why we had to stop trains running through the area so we can get people off the train and then away from the track.”

Commuter chaos, windswept welcome for Kitty Hawk

VIOLENT westerly winds sweeping across Sydney brought down powerlines and tree branches and stranded an electric train halfway across the Harbour Bridge yesterday, creating afternoon peak-hour commuter chaos.
The weather played a nasty trick on the NSW Government, which had "locked down" sections of the city earlier in the day to prevent traffic jams and commuter anger.

No guarantee against repeat of Sydney transport chaos

The New South Wales Government has been forced into another embarrassing apology after a second transport meltdown on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Two weeks before the March election, faulty maintenance caused a train to break down on the Bridge.

At the time, the Premier, Morris Iemma, said if it ever happened again, the Government would deserve the condemnation of a shellacking from the electorate.

Last night, tens of thousands of commuters were once again stranded after gale force winds tore a roof maintenance hatch off a train, damaging overhead power lines.