Article: Train late? Now the grass is to blame

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Train late? Now the grass is to blame

Train late? Now the grass is to blame
Clay Lucas
August 27, 2010

A NATIVE grass is to blame for late trains on the Ballarat line last month.

The regional train operator V/Line is consulting with the Department of Sustainability and Environment about how to control the spread of the grass, which it said made 144 Ballarat trains late last month.

V/Line general manager Geoff Arthur said heavy rain in March had contributed to the outbreak of ''rigid panic'', a grass growing on properties neighbouring train tracks in Parwan, near Melton.

The grass, Mr Arthur said, had blown onto the tracks, affecting signalling systems. Last month 40 per cent of services on the line ran late.

Mr Arthur said that when passing trains squashed the grass on the track, it affected the ability of the signalling system to consistently detect where trains were on the network.

Train speeds were slowed to 25km/h in the Melton area last month, but were recently lifted to 60km/h. The tracks are now also being regularly scrubbed clean.

''We are working with two neighbouring landholders in the Melton area about what can be done to try control the spread,'' Mr Arthur said.

The Environment Department had ''recommended that mowing, slashing and spraying the grass won't control the problem and, because it is native vegetation, careful environmental management principles must be applied,'' he said.

Earlier this month, fencing was erected along a two-kilometre section of track to stop the grass blowing onto it.

Opposition transport spokesman Terry Mulder said there seemed to be a new excuse every month for V/Line trains running late. ''This is on the Fast Train corridor that John Brumby's spent a billion dollars on, only to find on the Ballarat line has been beaten by nature.''

Transport Minister Martin Pakula's spokesman said this was ''rich'' coming from Mr Mulder, whose party had ''ripped the heart out of our public transport system''.

In April, rats chewed through fibre optic cables near Ballan, delaying services.

And a spokesman said in March a millipede infestation covering tracks near Tallarook on the Seymour line also caused delays.