Vandals who hijacked and derailed a train in Melbourne overnight may have purchased the required keys online, according to police.
The crash caused $3 million of damage and led to major delays for commuters.
Multiple offenders broke into the train at the Hurstbridge depot about 2am, and drove it about 80m towards the city before it derailed and crashed, damaging a pole, fence, another train, the track and overhead wires.
“This is bad; this is a malicious, vicious attack on our assets,” Metro Trains Melbourne CEO Andrew Lezala said.
Two keys would have been required to access and drive the train, and the set is universal, Metro confirmed today.
The fact the entire network uses the same set of keys is a cause of major concern, and Metro advised that new locks would be fitted on trains.
Victoria Police are treating the hijacking as a serious crime.
“It’s a serious act of criminal damage, at the moment we’ve got a large team of investigators working with it, in conjunction with Metro,” Sergeant Daniel Jamison said.
The vandals likely entered the train’s rear cabin and drove it in reverse, police believe.
Investigators are confident of identifying the offenders, after collecting fingerprints from the scene.
“We have no doubt that we will have a result to this matter, the detectives are very experienced,” Sergeant Jamison said.
Commuters near Hurstbridge were forced to board buses to Diamond Creek today, as Metro began the crash clean-up.
