Wild weather continues to cause chaos across Penrith – from cancelled train services to widespread power outages and flooded roads.
The most dramatic incident happened on Tuesday night when a tree fell onto a passenger train approaching Penrith Station.
Part of the tree breached the driver’s cabin and damaged the windscreen, but no injuries to passengers or crew were reported.
Emergency services were able to remove part of the tree from the track and train, allowing it to safely proceed to Penrith Station where all passengers were finally able to disembark after a long delay.
“We’ve been sat just outside Penrith for about an hour,” commuter Mike Crabtree said.
“It was very difficult to understand what they were saying. The communication system was muffled.”
The collapse of the tree closed the train line between Penrith and St Marys in both directions, causing chaos for the Wednesday morning peak.
The Transport Management Centre is advising passengers to catch local buses between Penrith and St Marys instead.
The State Emergency Service (SES) has issued a ‘Stay Informed’ advice alert about minor flooding of the Nepean River at Penrith in other areas, expected to reach 3.9 metres by this afternoon.
Power outages also continue to be an issue. While many services interrupted last night have been restored, a number of residential properties and businesses remain without power – including at Regentville, Mulgoa and Emu Plains.
Endeavour Energy crews worked throughout the night to restore supply to some 20,000 residences and businesses across the wider network that were impacted
On the roads, localised flooding has proved an issue across the Penrith Local Government Area.
At Cranebrook, a motorist was taken to hospital after a large tree came down on The Northern Road. The driver suffered only minor injuries.
The Northern Road is closed in both directions between Ninth Avenue and Borrowdale Way.
Troy Dodds
Troy Dodds is the Weekender's Managing Editor and Breaking News Reporter. He has more than 20 years experience as a journalist, working with some of Australia's leading media organisations. In 2023, he was named Editor of the Year at the Mumbrella Publish Awards.