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Train delays have poured salt on the wounds of devastated Sydney football fans trying to get home after the Matildas' heartbreaking 3-1 loss to England in the FIFA Women's World Cup semi-final.
Fans were advised to stay at Sydney Olympic Park and enjoy the entertainment after the match due to the delays.
The delays sparked fury among fans, who complained on social media of a lack of communication and failure to prepare for what was always going to be a huge night.
READ MORE: Fans storm barriers at packed Fed Square during semi-final
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Shortly before 10.30pm, Sydney Trains warned travellers of delays as a result of power supply issues at Ashfield.
Those delays were affecting services on the T1, T2, T5, T7 and T8 lines. On the T9 line, shuttles were running between Epping and Berowra and between Rhodes and Hornsby.
The operator blamed "vandalism of equipment" for the problems and asked commuters to consider finding an alternate way of getting home.
"Some trains are running late, may have changed stops, & journey times may take longer," it said on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter.
"Work crews are on site, however we have no forecast for trains to resume normal running."
Those travelling through Strathfield or Central through the affected area were warned to allow another hour of travel.
"You can also choose to join a T3 Bankstown Line train at Lidcombe or the City and changing to avoid the issue," Transport for NSW said, on its website.
A Luke Combs concert at nearby Qudos Bank Arena was also adding pressure to the struggling transport network.
Those left with long waits were furious, labelling the situation an "utter disgrace", "epic fail" and worse.
"There are train fulls of people from Olympic park offloaded at Lidcombe station with zero information about where to go next…," one X user wrote.
"Thousands of people running between stations & trains, crowd crushes, and no announcements from staff or correct signage…debacle."
https://twitter.com/0xMelb/status/1691811089841815998https://twitter.com/moneoli/status/1691810992768893207https://twitter.com/AndrewBeatty/status/1691809972269518973
Earlier, fans with tickets making a late dash to the semi-final were left in the lurch when urgent repairs to trains at Redfern Station caused some delays.
Transport for NSW said that while services were running frequently, trips to Olympic Park were taking about 15 minutes longer than expected.
Meanwhile in Melbourne, fans stormed barriers after the live site reached capacity.
READ MORE: 'Our nation faces a grave threat': Deputy PM 'quits' before Matildas semi
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