Rail services stopped

A fallen tree blocked train tracks near Woy Woy on June 9, while a landslide at Wondabyne also halted train services.

RailCorp reported that severe weather conditions closed the main northern rail line between Hornsby and Gosford on Friday, June 8, suspending all train services between Sydney, the Central Coast and Newcastle.

It reported that at around 6pm, an eight carriage northbound intercity train struck fallen rock on the track at Wondabyne, just north of Hawkesbury River.

The undercarriage of the leading car of the train was damaged in the incident, but the train did not derail.

Following northbound commuter trains were terminated at Hawkesbury River and Hornsby, and passengers directed to the Hornsby RSL club, where light refreshments were provided.

CityRail arranged approximately 50 buses to transport stranded passengers from Hornsby RSL through to Gosford and a "yo-yo" train service was introduced between Gosford and Fassifern.

RailCorp stated that, due to extreme weather conditions, CityRail had experienced some difficulty in arranging alternative bus transport, with most passengers departing Hornsby RSL by around 9.30pm.

The rear seven cars of the train at Wondabyne were returned to Hornsby and passengers provided with alternative transport.

Following inspection by track staff, one track between Hornsby and Gosford was reopened by around 10pm.

This line was forced to close again at approximately 11.15pm when a large tree which had fallen on the tracks was detected near Woy Woy.

The obstruction resulted in three train services being terminated at Hornsby station where 150 passengers were transferred to buses from Hornsby through to Gosford.

Bus services continued to transport the remaining passengers from Hornsby from 1am, with the last passengers departing at 2:45am.

As a result of the extreme weather conditions, one of the bus services transporting passengers to Gosford was caught in flooding.

A CityRail incident response officer was on this bus and contacted emergency services.

The 22 passengers on this service were then transported by ambulance to Gosford Hospital where taxi and bus services were provided to transport passengers home. There were no reported injuries as a result of this incident.

Flooding and damage to roads in the Newcastle and Central Coast and Hunter Line areas had blocked access for planned replacement buses to most areas along the line, especially for stations between Morisset and Newcastle, and between Newcastle and Maitland to Scone and Dungog.

CityRail had advised that travel in these regions "should be avoided".

A pre-planned three-day "track possession" on the North Shore, Northern, Newcastle and Central Coast and Hunter Lines was to be used to restore the main northern line which was cut in at least four places between Hornsby and Newcastle by washaways as a result of the severe flooding.

Press release, 9 Jun 2007 RailCorp