Newport farce: Rail line closes, replacement buses crash

COMMUTERS waiting for rail replacement buses this afternoon suffered more chaos when the buses collided.

Buses had been called to Newport station after the Werribee line was suspended between Newport and Laverton because of overhead power equipment failures.

But the delays were compounded when one of the buses tried to squeeze past the other and collided, witness Jay Kingcott said.

He said that the road at the station was narrow and when the second bus tried to squeeze past, it became stuck on the door of the other bus. The door was ripped, several windows were smashed and the cover was pulled off a tyre.

Mr Kingcott said two more replacement buses arrived, but with about 100 people waiting to board, it did not appear to be enough.

He said he had been waiting about 90 minutes to leave Newport and go home to Werribee.