Passengers were forced to evacuate a train and walk along the tracks after it struck a fallen tree near Penkridge, Staffordshire, on Tuesday evening. The incident occurred at approximately 8.30pm, causing widespread cancellations and delays across multiple rail services.
A passenger on the London Northwestern Railway service from Birmingham New Street described the ordeal: "We were stuck on board for some time. Then we got off the train and we had to walk down the track. It was ridiculous." Photographs show rail staff around the train and passengers walking along the track before being escorted to a road and onto rail replacement buses.
The National Rail website confirmed that a tree on the railway in the Wolverhampton area blocked lines between Shrewsbury, Stafford, and Wolverhampton. Services running through these stations faced cancellations, delays of up to 60 minutes, revisions, or diversions. Major disruption was expected to continue into Wednesday morning.
Rail replacement transport is in operation between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton, and between Crewe and Wolverhampton in both directions. Affected services include London Northwestern Railway routes between Liverpool Lime Street, Crewe, Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton, and Birmingham New Street, as well as Avanti West Coast services between Edinburgh, Crewe, Wolverhampton, and London Euston. West Midlands Railway services between Wolverhampton, Rugeley Trent Valley, and Walsall are also affected.
Avanti West Coast advised customers that they can use one of the two services immediately before or after their booked train, or request a full refund if their train is delayed or cancelled. CrossCountry also provided advice for customers travelling to Manchester Piccadilly, Birmingham New Street, Reading, Southampton Central, or Bournemouth. London Northwestern Railway said passengers can use Avanti West Coast services between Birmingham New Street and London Euston as an alternative.
