Perth Transport Authority spokesman David Hynes said the first incident on March 7 was due to a ‘splice failure that caused power along a section of line to be cut’. Midland line trains had to be re-routed along the Armadale line between Perth and Claisebrook, so that services could resume.
One woman on the Midland-bound train said an explanation and apology was called for, together with re-assurances the problem had been fully fixed.
‘We were stuck in the train for nearly an hour and were not told clearly enough about what was happening,’ she said.
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READ NOW‘They only opened the doors to let us breathe fresh air when I demanded it, though we had to promise we wouldn’t leave the train without supervision.’
In the second incident, on March 11, a full train heading toward Perth on the Midland line lost power about 50m short of East Perth station. The cause is still being investigated.
‘Unfortunately, the driver of the stranded train lost communications with his passengers, some of whom opened the emergency exits and got off the train,’ Mr Hynes said.
Passengers wandering on the rail reserve made the situation unsafe, he said.
‘The end result was that what should have been a 15-minute delay turned into a one-hour delay,’ Mr Hynes said.
He said Transperth was ‘looking into the incidents’ to see what could be done to improve communications.