Commuters returning to work after the Melbourne Cup public holiday had to endure massive delays due to track faults and troublesome boom gates on Wednesday morning.
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To add to commuter frustration, passengers were stuck at stations when their myki cards "timed out" during the near two-hour-long delays.
The delays began early at 5.40am on the Werribee and Williamstown lines, but it was commuters on the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines who were hardest hit.
There was a track fault on the Pakenham/Cranbourne line at 7.24am, which affected the boom gates at Clayton Road in Clayton.
With the boom gates stuck, trains began backing up on the line.
One commuter said they spent two hours on a train to travel from Merinda Park to the CBD. Others said it took them two hours to travel less then 20 kilometres on a train.
Train passenger Yehudi Binder said it took her more than an hour to get from Beaconsfield to Noble Park.
"It seems trains are not [going] anywhere," she said.
When commuters finally arrived in the city, they discovered their myki cards had "expired" due to the long delay, and they could not touch off.
Metro Train staff questioned passengers before allowing them through the turnstiles.
"Now myki isn't working and your idiot staff are delaying people even further by asking where they got on," commuter Emma wrote on Twitter.
"Do u really think every person that was on that train just didn't touch on? Because it took TWO HOURS to get to the city the pass expired."
Metro Trains spokeswoman Sammie Black said all customers were let through the gates at CBD stations as quickly as possible.
"Metro staff at the barrier gates at Flinders Street Station assisted all customers arriving and departing the station this morning," Ms Black said.
"This, of course, included customers who were affected by service delays on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines. In order to assist those whose myki cards had expired and were unable to touch off, our staff were able to open the barrier gates for them immediately."
Public Transport Victoria said customers affected by the two-hour delays who did not intend on catching public transport again for the day could contact the call centre to seek a reimbursement.
Ms Black said customers could contact Metro customer service on 1800 800 007.
