'Never Happened Before': Why V/Line's Entire Network Had to Be Shut Down
V/Line said services will return in stages after a Telstra outage halted trains and forced some Border passengers to fly.
- On Thursday, July 9, V/Line announced a staged resumption of train services across all lines after a 24-hour shutdown caused by a nationwide Telstra outage disrupted the safety-critical communications network.
- A firmware upgrade triggered a "time travel" glitch within Telstra, disrupting the National Train Communications System , which enables train drivers to communicate via in-cab radio powered by Telstra's 4G network.
- Commuters faced severe disruptions with more than 300 services cancelled initially and 95 additional cancellations reported Thursday. V/Line confirmed customers delayed by at least 60 minutes can apply for compensation.
- V/Line CEO Will Tieppo stated the operator is working with the Australian Rail Track Corporation to prevent future failures. "We'll be working together with ARTC to understand how to ensure this doesn't happen again," Tieppo said.
- Former V/Line COO John Hearsch noted that backup satellite systems also failed because they relied on Telstra, calling for a far-reaching investigation to establish a more reliable fallback network for safety-critical communications.
13 Articles
13 Articles
The Courier
'Never happened before': why V/Line's entire network had to be shut down
Victoria's regional rail network failed after a Telstra outage. Former V/Line COO John Hearsch reveals why the crucial backup system also collapsed.
V/Line: How many passengers?
V/Line was a mess this week thanks to using an ARTC system that relies on Telstra mobile, which had a major outage on Wednesday. Plus apparently the backup satellite connection didn’t work because the on-train equipment thought the mobile connection was fine. It raised an interesting question: how many people are affected by a major outage like this? The annual patronage (for regional train and coach, 26.4 million in 2024-25, expected 29.1 milli…
V/line resumes train operations
TRAINS on the V/Line network have slowly resumed on all lines, recovering from the extended Telstra outage which forced some Swan Hill travellers to find their own way home. The Telstra outage on Wednesday caused millions of phone customers to lose connection, with key services halting operations until systems returned to normal. Many travellers along […] Subscribe or Login to see the rest of the content. Username Password * Remember Me …
V/Line owes passengers answers on its lack of backup plans – Public Transport Users Association
No public transport service should rely on a single point of failure to function, yet that is exactly the position V/Line found itself in this week, and passengers paid the price. Telstra’s network outage on Wednesday shut down the entire regional train network. With disruptions continuing into Thursday, well after the Telstra network had recovered, the PTUA is demanding that V/Line and the State Government provide answers: Why is there no back…
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