The Glen Huntly level crossings are being grade separated, but the tram/train crossing looks like it’ll continue to cause problems until it’s gone next year.
On Monday during evening peak, an outbound route 67 tram came off the rails at the crossing. This used to be my neighbourhood, and I don’t live far away, so I thought I’d take a quick look.
Thankfully this is not something you see every day. There was no sign of any paramedics, so hopefully nobody was hurt.
Trams were disrupted, and so were citybound trains. Outbound trains were still getting through on the undamaged second track. The third track is out of service due to the grade separation project.
What caused it? A fault with the track.
— Sarah F (@hippychicky55) July 25, 2022
Credit to the staff who got things up and running after about 2.5 hours.
The tram itself seems to have been pulled back onto the rails.
However… two days later a power fault at the same location caused more problems.
Hopefully they have not been completely skimping on maintenance. The trams and trains, including freight trains, cause a lot of wear and tear on the infrastructure. It used to be that parts of the crossing were regularly replaced, or the whole thing rebuilt.
In any case, it’s a reminder that the crossing removal can’t come soon enough.
Once this one is gone, the two remaining tram squares in Melbourne will be Kooyong and Riversdale. Hopefully Kooyong (the busier of the two) will be pledged for the next tranche of crossing removals.
2 replies on “Glen Huntly tram derailment”
Amen to Kooyong getting the long overdue grade separation. I’m still annoyed that it didn’t get done at the same time as Toorak Road.
I’m really hoping Kooyong gets done soon too.
If I’m not wrong it would have to be a rail over road solution for that particular crossing because the Toorak Road crossing nearby was also a rail over road?
But either way it would be welcome to see the Kooyong crossing go.