Victoria's trains buckle in heat

Victorian Premier John Brumby has been left red-faced after Melbourne's antiquated
rail system again buckled in the heat, despite vehement assurances it would not
happen again this summer.
Air conditioning and overheated wiring forced the cancellation of 247 services on
Monday as the mercury soared above 43 degrees Celsius.
The problems persisted on Tuesday, which reached 35.6 degrees, with 34 cancellations
in the morning peak hour and another 20 expected in the evening.
In January and February last year, 3,830 metropolitan trains were cancelled and
thousands more delayed as a record heatwave gripped the state.
Responding to a parliamentary inquiry into the meltdown in July, Mr Brumby
guaranteed the problems would not re-occur. Asked by reporters if there would be
disruptions again this summer he said "No".
Pressed further on the issue in an interview with AAP three days later, the premier
was adamant the trains' heat-related woes were over.
"You come back and ask me in January. I've been prepared to make the assertion: you
come back in January and test me about it," he said.
"I've been really clear with you that I believe (for) all of the reasons that I've
outlined - the huge investment in the system, the biggest expansion to the rail
system since federation, the new rolling stock, the new ticketing system, the new
operators, the additional funding for maintenance - that you will see continuing
improvements in the system right through the year."
Despite his earlier willingness to be quizzed on the matter again this month, Mr
Brumby was not available for interview on Tuesday, instead sending his embattled
Transport Minister Lynne Kosky to front the media.
Ms Kosky said the system was not built to withstand extreme heat but the problems
were being addressed, including through an extra $62 million a year for maintenance
works.
"I understand absolutely that passengers get very frustrated, particularly when it's
so hot, they want to get home and they get angry and we're doing our best to make
those improvements but it will take time," she said.
She said there were nowhere near as many cancellations on Monday as during last
January's heatwave.
Andrew Lezala, chief executive of new train operator, Metro, said there had been a
number of air-conditioning failures on the ageing Comeng fleet.
More than half of Melbourne's trains have air conditioners that "trip" when the
temperature hits 34.5 degrees.
Mr Lezala said Metro was more than a third of the way through a "rapid"
refurbishment of the fleet's air conditioners, which would eventually be rebuilt to
make them withstand temperatures of 45 degrees.
He said problems with overhead copper wiring expanding in the sun were also to blame
for the disruptions. But, unlike last year, there had been no cancellations due to
buckling tracks.
"The issue is that it's really, really hot and electrical equipment, when it's
working very, very hard in great heat, has some tendency to fail."
Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu said commuters had been let down by the government.
"This was not an operator's problem, it was the government's problem," he said.
"They failed to invest in the basics and that's coming home to haunt all commuters
and we will continue to see these problems, these cancellations, these delays, these
shut downs of lines because this government failed to invest."