Delays expected on Sydney airport trains

Sydney's airport train line isn't expected to be fully operational until Thursday after a car destroyed a signal box at Riverwood.

Railway tracks on the Airport line in Sydney

A damaged signal box on Sydney airport's rail line means there will be delays until Thursday. (AAP)

Sydney train commuters - including those headed for the airport - are set for at least three days of pain after a rogue driver destroyed a critical signal box.

Police are looking for the driver, who ploughed through a fence and into the equipment at Riverwood in the city's south about 2am on Monday before fleeing.

The incident caused delays along Sydney's airport train line and minor disruptions on others, with replacement buses called in to help.

Sydney Trains boss Howard Collins said the box would take at least three days to repair.

"This costs hundreds of thousands of dollars," he told reporters on Monday.

Authorities are urging commuters to allow at least 15-to-20 minutes extra to get to the airport.

The line isn't expected to be fully operational again until Thursday morning, NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance said.

"This is a major incident on the network - there is no sugar-coating this," he told reporters.

"To the person that's responsible ... You should turn yourself into police. You left the scene, obviously you had a reason for doing so - you might want to explain that to the hundreds of thousands of commuters across Sydney that are going to be potentially impacted by this."


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world