Crews are working throughout the night to restore power supply to large parts of Sydney’s rail network, with transport authorities not ruling out disruption to services during Thursday morning’s rush hour.
Sydney Trains said engineers were on the ground continuing to inspect and rectify damage after severe weather brought down trees onto power lines, impacting energy supply to the network.
As of 10pm AEDT, no trains are running between Blacktown and Mulgrave on the Parramatta to St Marys and Mulgrave to Richmond lines.
The disruptions could continue into Thursday morning’s rush hour. (ABC News: Millie Roberts)
All services on the North Shore, Leppington, Liverpool and Inner west lines are experiencing delays, as well as the Airport and South, Northern and Blue Mountains lines.
There are limited trains running on the Central Coast and Newcastle Line, while all services to Cumberland have been cancelled.
The Bankstown and the South Coast Lines have not been impacted.
“An update will be provided once we have a clear understanding of tomorrow morning’s impacts,” Sydney Trains said in a statement.
“Stops and platforms may change at short notice, and customers may need to change their trip.”
It comes as NSW was hit by a series of storms, strong winds, high temperatures and fires on Wednesday in a string of wild weather.
Police were present inside Parramatta Station and on nearby streets, as crowds gathered to try and get on replacement buses.
Sydney Trains staff at the train station in Western Sydney fielded questions from frustrated passengers who told them they had been herded back and forth, with one woman describing her commute home as “mayhem”.
Service information boards were blank as overhead announcements flagged sporadic express trains into the city.
Crowds gather at Parramatta Station after train power supply issues. (ABC News: Liam Patrick)
Commuters stranded
One woman, who had been waiting for over an hour to get home to Penrith, told the ABC there was no communication on train replacement buses outside the station.
“There’s no management here, people are just going all over the road,” she said.
“Police were just standing there on their phones. I know it’s tough for them but there’s no rail [staff]. What’s going on?”
One woman waiting for over an hour says she hasn’t seen any transport staff. (ABC News)
Another commuter trying to get to Emu Plains described the situation as “chaos”.
“There doesn’t appear to be any extra buses. Nothing,” she said.
Lines of commuters gathered for replacement buses. (ABC News: Liam Patrick)
A man told ABC News he was on a train for over two hours from Wahroonga in Sydney’s upper north shore before ending up stranded in Parramatta.
“With traffic being the way it is, it’s difficult to try and get anyone to pick you up,” he said.
“Uber, relatives, anything, you can’t get anyone, it’s a nightmare.”
Delays, bus replacements across city
Commuters have been urged to delay travel. (ABC News: Millie Roberts)
Just before 6pm, Transport for NSW said buses were replacing trains between Parramatta and St Marys, as well as Blacktown and Richmond.
It said there were limited trains between the city and Parramatta, and between St Marys and Penrith and Blue Mountains Line stations.
Transport for NSW reported delays to trains on the T1 North Shore Line, T2 Leppington and Inner West Line, T3 Liverpool and Inner West Line, T8 Airport and South Line, and the T9 Northern Line.
Additionally, buses are replacing light rail services between Carlingford and Parramatta Square after overhead wires fell near Carlingford.
“Trips may take longer than usual and stops may change at short notice so passengers are advised to allow plenty of extra travel time and listen to announcements for service updates,” a spokesperson said.