Tunnel chaos 'wasn't due to hacking'

4 Oct 2012, 4:49 pm   -   Source: AAP
The Burnley and Domain tunnels are back in full operation following Wednesday's computer breakdown. (AAP)

The Burnley and Domain tunnels are back in full operation following Wednesday's computer breakdown. (AAP)

Transurban is still investigating a system failure that closed Melbourne's CityLink tunnels but there's no sign computer hacking was to blame.

Toll road operator Transurban says it may take some time to determine what caused the computer breakdown that resulted in traffic chaos around Melbourne.

There was no evidence to suggest computer hacking was behind the technical failure at this stage, Transurban said on Thursday.

CityLink's twin Burnley and Domain tunnels were shut for more than 12 hours from 4.30am (AEST) on Wednesday, resulting in gridlock that encircled the CBD to a radius of 20km.

Transurban chief executive Scott Charlton said the company was still trying to determine what caused the failure of a switch between the safety system and the communication network for the CityLink tunnels.

Asked if it was possible Transurban's computer system was the victim of hacking, Mr Charlton told reporters: "We have no evidence at this point in time.

"We don't actually know at this point in time what caused the switch to fail and why the backup system didn't come in.

"I don't have any more details on what caused the incident.

"We do have network engineers on site 24/7 now to ensure that if anything were to develop we could handle the situation immediately."

Speaking after Transurban's annual general meeting on Thursday, Mr Charlton said an analysis of Wednesday's breakdown would take "as long as it takes".

He said Transurban had technicians on duty all the time, but they did not include specialist network staff, so it had taken several hours to isolate the switch failure as the reason for the breakdown.

Mr Charlton rejected a rumour Transurban was unable to respond more quickly because it had sacked IT staff capable of dealing with the situation.

Transurban has said it would refund tolls charged from 4am to midnight on Wednesday to compensate motorists for the inconvenience caused by the tunnel closures.

The AGM heard the refund would cost the company about $1.2 million to $1.3 million in lost revenue.

Transurban chairman Lindsay Maxsted said the company believed that a refund, rather than giving motorists a longer period of free travel, was an appropriate recompense.

Mr Maxsted said Transurban had shut the tunnels because the safety risk inherent in allowing a tunnel to remain open with compromised safety systems was too great.

He said a full closure of the tunnels, used by 120,000 vehicles each weekday, had been the only option.

Mr Maxsted said the company was acting to ensure the situation never occurred again.

"We're confident that the root-cause analysis currently in train will guide the operations team to ensure a similar event is unlikely to ever occur again."

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott again used Wednesday's traffic chaos in Melbourne to call for more federal funding for large transport infrastructure projects.

Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett said there was always a chance that the technology employed on CityLink could break down, and although the tunnels were closed for safety reasons, some people now felt compelled to squeal about it.

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