Metro Trains cancels services due to maintenance worker strike

Metro Trains has cancelled dozens of services on the Sunbury, Cranbourne, and Pakenham lines due to ongoing industrial action at a maintenance facility. A total of 89 services were cancelled across Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday morning.

The disruption stems from industrial action by members of the Electrical Trades Union and the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union at the Downer Group’s Pakenham East depot. Downer Group holds the state government contract for routine maintenance on Victoria’s High Capacity Metro Trains (HCMT).

Metro executives warned that if the action continues, they may be forced to implement partial line suspensions, where trains terminate before reaching the end of their routes. To mitigate the impact, Metro Trains is exploring the use of replacement buses to assist passengers.