And thanks to Ms Bligh there will be no need to touch on or off with Go Cards tomorrow, and no need to buy a paper ticket, as all public transport travel will be free for the day. A power fault has thrown Brisbane's train network into chaos. Although the government is strictly in caretaker mode at the moment, executive government still has the power to implement ministerial directives, such as the decision to grant Translink passengers a fare-free day. Earlier (1.21pm): Authorities believe a single clamp may be responsible for Brisbane's horrendous commute this morning, unleashing a 25,000-volt power surge that prevented trains entering the CBD and caused subsequent logjams on the city's roads.

Premier Anna Bligh this morning apologised to commuters for the lengthy delays, promising free travel on southeast Queensland trains, buses and ferries all day tomorrow, a move estimated to cost the government up to $1 million. But opposition deputy leader Tim Nicholls said “an election eve bribe” of a day of free travel would not make up for the government’s transport failings, which included sharp hikes in fares. As train services begin to return to normal, attention has now turned to how a single power line could bring down such a major part of the transport network. Thousands of Translink customers were left stranded for hours from 6am after an electrical fault stopped trains from passing through central train stations including Roma Street, Brisbane Central, Fortitude Valley and Bowen Hills. A “very disappointed” Transport Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk said she had asked for a “full explanation” from Queensland Rail.

If there is more that can be done to prevent this occurring in the future, I expect it to happen and I’ll be making that clear to Queensland Rail “Current advice is that a clamp holding an overhead high voltage line may have failed, causing the overhead power line to fall and make contact with the rail, sending 25,000 volts through the signals and switching equipment,” Ms Palaszczuk said. “When power was restored some of the damaged components failed.” Ms Palaszczuk said safety was the paramount concern and trains could not run on the impacted lines. It is believed to be the first time a failure like this has occurred.

Ms Bligh said the offer of free travel tomorrow was compensation for commuters who had "not received the service they deserved". “From the first service tomorrow all public transport across SEQ will be free from the first service to the last service," Ms Bligh said. Train services were restored to the affected stations just before 9am, however the residual hold-ups meant services were delayed by at least an hour. Ms Palaszczuk said Queensland Rail had an additional 25 buses operating and Translink had altered the express bus route along Milton Road to have buses stop at Milton train station. She said she would ask senior Queensland Rail staff to look at what could be done to prevent a repeat of this morning’s incident.

“I understand that Queensland Rail’s maintenance program is considered best practice in asset management and is used successfully by many rail networks around the world,” she said. “Full scale asset maintenance works are scheduled four times a year for each zone on the QR network. Of course, when issues emerge between the major maintenance works, works are undertaken straight away. “If there is more that can be done to prevent this occurring in the future, I expect it to happen and I’ll be making that clear to Queensland Rail.” Shadow Transport Minister Scott Emerson this morning tried to pin the problems on the Bligh government. "This lazy, tired Labor government has let our public transport system decline and today we have a near collapse in the entire train system," he said in a statement.

However, Robert Dow from lobby group Rail Back on Track said this morning's problems, while "unfortunate", were hard to prevent. “Overall the overhead is generally fairly reliable, particularly through Milton, South Brisbane and through to Bowen Hills," Mr Dow. “There wasn’t a lot they could do about what happened." Mr Dow said the problem highlighted why the Cross River Rail project was so important for the city's future. “The problem is we have a convergent network and to fix it, they had to stop running the trains through those stations.

“I think it highlights how good Cross River Rail would be in providing that alternate path through the CBD, it would just loop it, would have helped mitigated some of those problems this morning.” Asked specifically what the LNP would do to address rail maintenance, Mr Nicholls said the government had wasted money in numerous departments and his party would invest money in frontline services. “So the amount of money that will be required will be the money that’s ensuring those frontline services are delivered,” he told reporters. “As I say there’s always the unexplained or unexpected but what’s been occurring on the southeast Queensland rail network is an increasing frequency of failures and commuters are getting rightly sick and tired of it and an election-eve bribe is not going to solve that problem.” brisbanetimes.com.au last year reported on Queensland Rail figures showing the frequency of various incidents that could lead to train delays, including signalling faults, power problems and track faults.

In the April-June quarter last year, 388 signalling system incidents were recorded, equating to 30 a week. Such faults can relate to any part of the signalling system, including signals, track circuits, points and level-crossing equipment, with impatient motorists running into boom gates often causing commuter woes. However, powerline incidents appeared to be on a downward trend in recent years, with seven recorded throughout April, May and June last year, compared with 26 per quarter in 2009/10. The figures also showed problems with train tracks – including sleepers and the actual rails – occurred at the rate of about 80 a quarter, or six a week. Earlier report: Brisbane's commute was thrown into havoc this morning, with trains unable to access the CBD and subsequent traffic problems for motorists. Here's how it unfolded:

10.35am: Translink now say delays of up to 30 minutes are expected as they continue to clear this morning's backlog. 10.03am: Translink can't give us all the details yet about how one powerline was able to bring down CBD train traffic this morning, but they know people want answers. We'll let you know as soon as we get them. 9.50am: Now that the trains are at least back on track and headed towards normal timetable service, it's time for politics! Lobby group Rail Back on Track have seized the opportunity to put their case forward. They think today is a "good demonstration" of why Cross River Rail needs "immediate action".

Here's some of what they had to say:

Some commuters have highlighted how useful some rail services from Yeerongpilly to Corinda via Tennyson would have been today. The stranding of many school children perhaps avoided.



Service reliability of rail and bus is impacting negatively on the community. Everyone understands that some disruption is inevitable, but of late disruption is becoming commonplace.



The incoming Transport Minister must address system reliability as a high priority and one of the first tasks of the new transport portfolio.



9.35am: The Australian Traffic Network has given us an update on the road situation: Hale Street is a solid run inbound from the ICB to the city.

The Western Freeway is delayed from Darra to the Jindalee Bridge

The Ipswich Motorway is heavy from Wacol to Oxley

Gympie Road is starting to ease on the inbound run from Bald Hills to Carseldine

The M1 northbound lanes are slow but easing from Slacks Creek to Eight Mile Plains

Stanley Street, South Brisbane, is still quite heavy. In other road news, there are still longer delays than normal if you are waiting on a taxi and you should also notice an increased bus presence - the ABC's Stacey Milner tweeted this:

9.25am: OK. We've gotten through to Translink and can explain where the delays are at: Trains are running through the previously affected stations. But because of this morning's delays, some services will still be terminating at earlier stations as they try to work through the back log. Translink is still recommending that people try to find an alternative transport mode this morning until all delays are worked through. They also recommend that those in a rush transfer to a bus where they can (Milton, South Brisbane etc). If you are on a train, delays of up to 60 minutes are still expected. 9.15am: Here is the latest from the Translink website: Trains services have resumed across the network and residual delays of up to 60 minutes are expected after a previous power fault near Roma Street station.



Buses are operating from South Bank, Milton, Corinda, Albion and Northgate into the Brisbane CBD to help with congestion.



Brisbane Transport have increased bus services where possible into the CBD from Toowong, Sandgate Rd, Richlands, Murrarie, Cannon Hill and Morningside.



Please find alternative transport where available or delay travel if possible.



Customers may consider the following buses departing Milton into the City: P426, 431, 444, P445, P455, 470, 471, 475.



Customers may consider the following buses departing Toombul into the City: 300, 306, 310, 315, 322.



TransLink thanks you for your patience.

9.12am: Translink have just tweeted trains are resuming across the network. We are working on getting in touch with them to find out what exactly that means. 9.00am: If you are travelling by car, bus or train into or anywhere near the city, our most recent information is you can expect to be at least 30 to 45 minutes late. Translink is still warning of delays of up to 90 minutes for train travellers. 8.55am: This is straight from one of our reporters who is stuck in traffic this morning:

"On the bus way between South Bank and the Cultural Centre stops, buses are bumper to bumper. It has taken more than 40 minutes to travel from East Brisbane to a stretch of the bus way beside South Brisbane train station." Sounds like it will be awhile before we can expect her in the office. 8.46am: Translink staff have apologised for this morning's mess several times, but they are asking people try and stay calm and patient while they fix the problem. It seems Twitter has become an excellent platform for commuters needing to vent their frustrations - here are some of the ones we can publish:

8.43am: Not that it will be much help in getting you where you are going, but we have a little more information on what has caused the chaos this morning - apparently an overhead line was down at Roma Street station and that stopped power getting through. It's going to be at least another two hours until it is fixed. 8.35am: It seems that taxis are no longer an option for those who need to get into the city ASAP. Black and White cabs just told us there is a fairly major delay on cars, despite having all available cabs on the road. That's more than 1000. 8.25am: There seems to be some confusion about the buses at Milton station. We just spoke to Translink and a spokesman told us that buses had been arranged to pick up passengers opposite the brewery.

A graphic on the Translink website warned of major delays on all lines as of 8.15am. 8.14am: City traffic is now starting to slow... But we are being assured by the Australian Traffic Network that it is nothing outside of the ordinary. From experience, "ordinary" can mean anything up to an extra hour on your travel time. 8.03am: A Translink spokesman has let us know that they hope to have the fault fixed soon - but it won't be until after peak. That information may not help you now, but he also said additional buses had been put on at major stops, to try and take some of the load. Still, add anywhere from half an hour to 90 minutes to your travel time this morning.



7.57am: More and more commuters are taking to Twitter to vent their frustrations...but amongst the anger, there is some sunshine: 7.45am: Commuters on south bound trains are spending a lot of time just sitting in stopped trains - hope they at least have some music or something to read to keep them occupied!

7.40am: Translink have just given an update on the delays - they are now warning of delays of up to 90 minutes. Trains are still suspended between Milton to Roma Street and South Brisbane to Roma Street. The powerline fault is not expected to be fixed for another few hours. 7.35am: We are hearing their a slight delays if you were hoping to order a taxi, so if you are considering getting a cab to work, it's best to check a little in advance how long you'd be waiting for a car.

7.25am: At the moment, it seems a car is your best option if you absolutely have to get into the city. The Australian Traffic Network have had a good look at the roads and have reported there is "no big difference" to any other peak hour traffic flow. That doesn't mean it is all smooth sailing though - make sure you incorporate normal peak hour delays into your travel time. 7.10am: Commuters stuck on Brisbane trains are taking to Twitter to update their situation. We are hearing that northbound trains are backed up to Toombul at the moment. Add up to an hour to your journey if you are thinking of getting a train.

7.00am: We just spoke to a Translink spokesman for the very latest on the train delays. The good news is trains on the Caboolture and Sunshine Coast lines are getting through to Central station, although expect delays of up to 30 minutes on those lines. The bad news is services on the Ipswich and Rosewood lines, Cleveland, Beenleigh and Gold Coast lines are still unable to reach the CBD. Ipswich and Rosewood trains are only getting as far as Milton station, while the others are being stopped at South Brisbane or Park Road. Commuters there are being directed to the South East busway. Staff are still working on fixing the power fault which has caused the delays - the spokesman hopes to be able to give us more information on that soon. 6.52am: In their latest update, TransLink says they are still working on fixing the fault which has caused this morning's delays but suggest commuter either delay their trips or consider taking the bus, they recommend these bus routes: Buses departing Milton into the City: P426, 431, 444, P445, P455, 470, 471, 475.

Buses departing Toombul into the City: 300, 306, 310, 315, 322. 6.39am: Jay Lane from the Australian Traffic Network says at this stage, CBD traffic is travelling "surprisingly well" with just a few extra buses on the road. That could change though as more people get moving this morning, so be sure to check in before you leave. 6.26am: Here's the latest update on where trains are getting through to: From the south: Trains are reaching Park Road and South Brisbane stations From the west: Trains are reaching Milton station (Walk to Coronation Drive where express buses are waiting)

From the north: Trains are reaching Bowen Hills. Andrew Berkman from Queensland Rail told 612 ABC Brisbane's Spencer Howson that express buses have been organised. Commuters are currently facing delays of up to one hour, but they hope to have that down to 30 minutes soon. 6.03am: Brisbane's train network is likely to be in chaos this morning, with Translink warning of at least one hour-long delays across the city. Damaged overhead lines at Roma Street have forced the suspension of all trains through the Brisbane City area, Translink says on its website. It says some services are expected from early in the peak usage period but warns commuters of sixty-minute delays throughout the morning.

Buses will replace trains at some locations, but travellers are being urged to find alternate transport or delay their trip if possible. Queensland Rail technicians are "working as fast as possible" to remedy the fault, the Translink website says.