Flooding causes more misery for rail passengers
A major rail route connecting England and Scotland has been blocked by flooding.
The West Coast Main Line is closed between Carlisle and Lancaster following recent downpours.
Services run by Avanti West Coast from London Euston to Glasgow and Edinburgh via Birmingham are affected, as well as trains operated by Northern and TransPennine Express.
Ticket restrictions have been lifted and rail replacement buses will be deployed between Preston and Carlisle.
#AVANTINEW ⚠️ Due to heavy flooding between Carlisle and Lancaster lines are blocked until further notice. There are rail replacement buses between Preston and Carlisle. Please check your journey before travelling here: https://t.co/qliGYwWDlk
— Avanti West Coast (@AvantiWestCoast) February 20, 2020
Passengers were warned that some journeys could take up to two hours longer than normal.
Disruption is expected to last until at least the end of Thursday.
A speed restriction was implemented for trains in Cumbria and north Lancashire between 5pm on Wednesday and 10am on Thursday due to the wet weather increasing the risk of landslips and flooding.
We're working around the clock following the impact recent storms. Even in the current spell of significant rainfall, our teams are doing all they can to reopen affected lines as soon and as safely as they can.
We'd like to thank passengers for their patience and understanding. pic.twitter.com/xabnI1LrKF
— Network Rail Wales & Borders (@NetworkRailWAL) February 20, 2020
Several lines in Wales remain closed due to flooding, including Aberdare to Pontypridd; Ebbw Vale Town to Cardiff Central; Abergavenny to Hereford; and Blaenau Ffestiniog to Llandudno.
Network Rail said it is working hard to repair and reopen routes as soon as possible.
London Euston services are also affected by a points failure caused by an accident during overnight engineering work.
The issue caused delays and cancellations to Avanti West Coast and London Northwestern Railway trains on Thursday morning.
Points are mechanical systems that enable trains to switch from one track to another.
A Network Rail spokesman said: “A set of points was accidentally damaged during some engineering work on the approaches to Euston last night.
“This has reduced the number of tracks and platforms we are able to use at Euston this morning and some services have had to be altered or cancelled as a result.
“Passengers travelling to or from Euston today are advised to check before they travel, although we expect the disruption to be quite limited.”
