Ballarat commuters returning home from Southern Cross Station on V/Line Wednesday evening were in for more than they bargained for.

Major delays caused by spontaneous and powerful weather slowed some commuters for over six-and-a-half hours – V/Line chief executive James Pinder described it as a “one-in-20-year weather event” and apologised to passengers.

Those travelling on the 7.17pm service to Wendouree didn’t arrive home until 1.53am due to a combination of delays, trains being replaced by coaches, bad weather and a serious crash on the Western Freeway.

Lightning struck signalling equipment near Bacchus Marsh, blowing fuses on interlocking systems which control signalling of trains on the Ballarat line.

“Extreme rainfall also caused flooding on the tracks and in the station building at Ararat,” Mr Pinder added.

“Crews worked hard despite heavy rain and strong winds to repair the equipment and get Ballarat services back on-line as quickly as possible.

“They then worked through the night to fully repair the faults in preparation for the morning peak.”

Replacement coaches were among vehicles delayed on the Western Freeway after the fatal collision near Wallace.

Crews pumped more than a metre of flood water from the track at Ararat in about five hours to ensure the track was certified for Thursday’s services.

One commuter, Simone, said her experience on the 5.10pm service was “close to the worst” she had ever had.

“I left work early to jump on an earlier train hoping to make it back for an appointment,” she said.

The Ballarat resident’s hopes faded quickly as her train was delayed by nearly 20 minutes. 

Her service then stopped for about an hour outside of Gordon, with little explanation given to passengers.

“I remember sitting on the train feeling bad, the conductor was so lovely, he was trying to keep us informed and was being open and honest, but it seemed like he knew just as much as us,” she told The Courier.

“There needs to be better communication, V/Line needs to change something to at least keep us informed about what the hold up is.”

Simone feared she would have to get off the train to walk across construction site to reach a replacement bus as she is 29-weeks pregnant.

This was the case for commuters on the 5.50pm service to Wendouree. 

Simone, who travels to Melbourne for work each day said she would be working from home on Thursday.

“I just couldn’t bring myself to get back on the train this morning after yesterday’s ordeal.”

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