Questions over train that didn’t stop

A schoolgirl stuck on a ‘runaway train’ admits she was briefly frightened when it didn’t stop as expected.

Melissa, 16, got on the train at Essendon to go to school as normal and was planning to hop off at Strathmore.

But there was one problem – it didn’t stop.

The train skipped five stops before finally opening its doors again at Glenroy.

Melissa assured Neil Mitchell it wasn’t an express train.

‘It didn’t say anything (about being express),’ she said on 3AW Mornings.

‘It looked like a normal train, but when I got off at Glenroy it said express.

‘But it didn’t say it over the voicer, or anything. Nobody knew of it.’

Melissa said she wasn’t alone in her confusion.

‘When it didn’t stop, people from my school were really confused and blank-faced,’ she said.

‘Nobody knew what was going on.’

Click PLAY below to hear Melissa explain what happened

3AW Mornings has since been told by somebody in the know that the train would have been altered to express due to it running late.

The source said the driver would have made an announcement, but the PA system most likely wasn’t working on Melissa’s part of the train.

They told Neil Mitchell drivers weren’t allowed to test PA systems when preparing trains for service.

PTV wouldn’t have been aware as it is a last minute change.