UK: Thousands Face Rail Chaos After Line Damage
Posted: 29 May 2011, 17:10
Thousands Face Rail Chaos After Line Damage
Sky News
12:50pm UK, Sunday May 29, 2011
Thousands of bank holiday weekend rail passengers face further disruption after damage to overhead power lines caused travel chaos.
Network Rail investigators were last night trying to establish the cause of damage to four power lines, which forced the cancellations of services in both directions between Grantham, Lincolnshire, and Peterborough, Cambridgeshire.
It caused major disruption for travellers on the east coast main line, which runs between Aberdeen and London's King's Cross.
Service operator East Coast said the damaged lines caused disruption to 70 of its 102 scheduled services.
Engineers worked through the night to fix the damage in time for the morning's timetable.
A Network Rail spokesman said it would be "all hands on deck", adding: "A few of the very early morning services may be affected but we are expecting to be back to a full timetable by around 9am."
A spokesman said around 200m of overhead equipment had been damaged, adding:
"There is a lot of damage that needs to be repaired."
He said the damage could have been caused by a number of things including a technical problem with the lines, vandalism or even a carrier bag becoming entangled in the overhead wires.
Damage to the lines became apparent at around 10.20am on Saturday. Passengers were advised to use alternative routes.
It was a chaotic start to the bank holiday weekend for holidaymakers and came as football fans were travelling into the capital for the Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United at Wembley.
Sky News
12:50pm UK, Sunday May 29, 2011
Thousands of bank holiday weekend rail passengers face further disruption after damage to overhead power lines caused travel chaos.
Network Rail investigators were last night trying to establish the cause of damage to four power lines, which forced the cancellations of services in both directions between Grantham, Lincolnshire, and Peterborough, Cambridgeshire.
It caused major disruption for travellers on the east coast main line, which runs between Aberdeen and London's King's Cross.
Service operator East Coast said the damaged lines caused disruption to 70 of its 102 scheduled services.
Engineers worked through the night to fix the damage in time for the morning's timetable.
A Network Rail spokesman said it would be "all hands on deck", adding: "A few of the very early morning services may be affected but we are expecting to be back to a full timetable by around 9am."
A spokesman said around 200m of overhead equipment had been damaged, adding:
"There is a lot of damage that needs to be repaired."
He said the damage could have been caused by a number of things including a technical problem with the lines, vandalism or even a carrier bag becoming entangled in the overhead wires.
Damage to the lines became apparent at around 10.20am on Saturday. Passengers were advised to use alternative routes.
It was a chaotic start to the bank holiday weekend for holidaymakers and came as football fans were travelling into the capital for the Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United at Wembley.