Tuesday 10 April, 2012

A fleet of more than 80 buses will transport Geelong commuters into Melbourne tomorrow morning following a major signal fault on the train line this afternoon.

While buses will run to the train timetable, commuters are being asked to please allow for an extra 30 minutes travel time due to traffic.

The Geelong line was suspended and all trains replaced by buses as a result of a signal fault which occurred at about 12:20pm today.

V/Line CEO, Rob Barnett, said the signal fault was believed to be linked to underground cable problems between Lara and Little River that also delayed trains last week.

"Last week our engineers were able to temporarily fix the cable fault by using a transformer from Geelong to power the broken cable, unexpectedly this solution failed this afternoon," Mr Barnett said.

"Right now we have people over a 500 metre area near Little River working to replace this 25-year-old cable that has wreaked havoc on our signaling system in recent days.

"I completely understand and appreciate the frustration many of our customers must be feeling with this problem. I not only apologise, but pledge that we will be working hard to tackle this serious infrastructure problem.

With trains unable to run this evening and be in position for the morning peak, putting a bus plan in place means we can get customers into work as efficiently and timely as possible."

Geelong commuters are encouraged to visit the V/Line website vline.com.au for updates tomorrow.

Commuters may also call 1800 800 007 for full service disruption information.