Commuters were late and confused on Wednesday morning after trains on nine of Melbourne's suburban railway lines suffered major delays, with passengers being given mixed signals about what had caused the problem.
Signs at platforms said there had been a power fault, while the Metro Trains website blamed an equipment fault.
One train driver apparently told passengers the Metro control room had "lost control of a critical system".
A Metro spokesman told The Age a "temporary loss of power" caused an equipment fault near Richmond, just after 8.35am, taking out the Alamein, Belgrave, Glen Waverley, Hurstbridge, Lilydale and South Morang lines.
Services have since resumed, but with residual delays.
A further three lines, Upfield, Sunbury and Craigieburn, also experienced major delays.
Major train delays on Wednesday morning.
The Upfield Line also had major delays due to an unrelated incident.
There were minor delays on additional lines.
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