Historic railway gates crash under investigation

Shattered: Debris from the boom gates on the southern side of the crossing was spread over the crossing and tracks. Photos: ALISTAIR FINLAY

THE cause of an incident late on Saturday night that saw the 10.16pm Melbourne to Wendouree V/Line service collide with historic railway gates at the Lydiard Street North level crossing is under investigation.

Emergency services attended the scene for about three hours.

At about 11.30pm a three car VLocity set impacted the gates, destroying them and bringing down power cables.

In a statement a spokesperson for V/Line said the incident is “currently under investigation.”

“The safety of our staff and passengers remains our first priority and an external investigation by the relevant authorities will be undertaken,” the statement said.

A spokesperson for Victoria Police said the investigation would be headed up by the Road Safety Transport Authority.

While the train hit the gates on Lydiard Street, it only managed to pull up on the western side of Doveton Street.

Four people were on the train, including the driver, conductor and two passengers.

An Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said all four people were assessed at the scene with one patient, a man in his 40s, taken to hospital in a “serious but stable” condition with head, leg and back injuries.

Train services today are running as scheduled and the statement said “traffic management” procedures were taking place at Lydiard Street.