Frustrated commuters were finally able to board trains three hours after an incident at Noble Park crippled the Pakenham line.A NOBLE PARK railway fatality wreaked havoc on peak hour train services across Melbourne’s south east on Monday morning with trains along the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines affected.
Victoria Police said a man died just before 5am on Monday at the rail crossing at Corrigan Road, Noble Park, after he was struck by a city-bound freight train.
Police and the coroner attended the scene and brought train services on the Pakenham line to a halt during peak travel times, not declaring the line open until 8.05am.
Connex spokesperson Andrew Cassidy said the closure during peak travel times inconvenienced several thousand commuters who relied on public transport to get to work.
Mr Cassidy said Connex arranged for up to 14 buses to shuttle passengers from station to station, to emulate the service offered by the rail network.
Commuters along the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines had to disembark at Dandenong and catch a bus to Oakleigh train station before normal train travel resumed.
One Endeavour Hills commuter said many people were forced to queue up for the buses and there had been some hustle and bustle with many travellers keen to get off to work.
He said others lined up in the taxi rank and caught a cab in a bid to get to work on time.
“The line was released to us at 8.05am by Victoria Police and the coroner’s office,” Mr Cassidy said.
“We had no direct control as they needed to carry out an investigation on-site and we can’t start running services until they let us know it’s all clear and they are happy for us to resume service.”
A Victoria Police spokesperson said police had declared the death as non-suspicious.
Victoria Police refused to comment any further on its traffic operations along Corrigan Road because of the circumstances surrounding the death.
