General News
20 July, 2026
Outage sees commuters stranded
RAIL commuters were left stranded on platforms and many residents and businesses were left with no ability to call or text last week when Telstra experienced a major outage.
Phones were only capable of making emergency calls all across the country, including within the Warrnambool City municipality and Moyne Shire and a number of businesses were also unable to process card payments as a result of the outage.
Media reports showed large groups of regional commuters on platforms at Southern Cross Station on Wednesday, left wondering when and if they would be able to make the journey home.
Buses replaced some train services on Wednesday and into Thursday, however, the demand for drivers appeared to have exceeded supply, with some commuters having to seek hotel accommodation in the city overnight Wednesday.
Telstra chief financial officer Michael Ackland said 90 per cent of calls and data services were restored by 9.45am last Wednesday, with those still without signal reconnected by 4pm.
“It may take some time for all devices to reconnect correctly, and we encourage customers still facing issues to restart their phone or device,” he said.
“We are still conducting our investigation into the root cause, but we are confident we have identified a software defect and have been able to isolate it.
“We will provide further technical details on this once we complete our investigation.
“I want to be clear that this was not the result of a cyber incident.”
The outage impacted V/Line services, forcing the Warrnambool Line to suspend all trains and run a limited replacement train service.
A V/Line spokesperson said the outage resulted in significant impacts to passengers, with many left stranded during the outage.
“A very limited coach replacement service was in place and passengers were asked to avoid travel until further notice,” the spokesperson said.
“Passengers were encouraged to check on the V/Line website and app for the latest information.
“We thank passengers for their patience and understanding while we worked to restore services as soon as possible.”
Services remained disrupted on the Thursday.
Mr Ackland apologised for the impact of the outage, which saw a second outage of Triple Zero calls on Wednesday night.
“We know how much our customers rely on us to get it right – to do their jobs, run their businesses, stay safe and keep in touch,” he said.
“I also want to say thank you for your patience and understanding as we’ve worked to put things right.
“We don’t take that for granted.
“We have seen some reports of customers receiving calls from fraudsters trying to take advantage of this moment.
“Our advice to our customers is if you get a call from someone claiming to be from Telstra asking you for details in light of the outage, please hang up and call us directly on 13 22 00.”
A Telstra spokesperson said 90 per cent of the second outage had been rectified by 6.30am last Thursday.
“Our welfare checks process remains in place, and we continue to advise customers who experience the issue to wait for the call to be connected via an alternative network or recall using a different phone,” the spokesperson said.
At the Warrnambool City Council offices, some staff reportedly experienced intermittent issues with mobile phones, however all facilities and services remained open and operational.
