UK - freight train sheds containers

[John Ashworth]

High winds disrupt rail services

Passengers travelling on the West Coast railway line can expect severe delays after containers from two freight trains fell onto tracks in high winds.

The winds, which battered much of England overnight, left freight on track at Shap in Cumbria and on a stretch of the line in Buckinghamshire.

Engineers are working to remove the containers and to check for any damage to the track and infrastructure.

Network Rail said services around Shap would not resume before Monday.

Virgin Train and Transpennine West customers are being urged to find alternative routes.

Elsewhere, cranes at the port of Felixstowe were damaged in the wind and several people were injured in incidents where they were hit by falling trees or parts of buildings.

Track damage

A Network Rail spokesman said: "A freight train passing through the Shap area lost some containers. These containers are now lying on the line."

The train had just come up the Shap incline, one of the longest hills on a main line in the UK and was at about 1,000ft (305m) above sea level when the wind caught it and blew the containers away.

The Met Office said it had recorded a gust of 66mph in the area but added a funnelling effect could have meant stronger winds.

The freight train driver did not notice the containers, which were empty but still weighed between two and four tonnes, until he was stopped in Lockerbie, southern Scotland.

Freight operators Freightliner said the containers would have been locked onto the wagons and that this is the first time this has happened since the company was formed.

The blockage means trains are being replaced by buses between Lancaster and Carlisle and between Preston and Glasgow.

The incident will mainly affect Virgin passengers on the West Coast mainline, which runs from London to Glasgow.

Services between Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire and Bletchley in Buckinghamshire are suspended.

Virgin Train services travelling to London Euston will terminate at Milton Keynes with replacement bus services operating between Milton Keynes and Watford Junction.

Cranes damaged

A shuttle service will operate between Hemel Hempstead and London Euston.

A Network Rail spokesman said both incidents happened during strong winds but investigations would be carried out into the exact cause.

Meanwhile, cranes at the Port of Felixstowe in Suffolk have been damaged after a ship broke free from its moorings during the strong winds.

And four people in a yacht had to be landed ashore by the Whitstable Lifeboat after the craft broke its mooring and went aground at Harty Ferry in the Swale, Kent.

Firefighters across England have had a busy night due to the strong winds.

In East Yorkshire, a driver was taken to hospital after a car was hit by a tree which fell on the A165 Beverley to Driffield Road.

Chimney stacks

And in Scunthorpe, a woman was treated in hospital for neck pains after part of a stable was blown onto a car.

A woman who was crushed by a falling tree in Teesside on Friday afternoon remained in a critical condition.

Emergency services were also called to homes in Broadheath, Altrincham, Cheshire, after gusts of wind threatened to bring down chimney stacks.

Residents living in up to 25 homes nearby were advised to move to local authority accommodation but only a few actually did so.

Staff from Trafford Borough Council are due visit the homes during the day to assess any damage.

Humberside Fire Service was also called out to dangerous chimney stacks and roofing at properties in Bridlington, Hull, Grimsby and Cleethorpes.

Homes and businesses in Lincolnshire and Gloucestershire have been affected by power cuts.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/e ... 272373.stm
Published: 2008/03/01 14:06:10 GMT
© BBC MMVIII

[John Ashworth]

There are good pictures of the containers on the line here and here