Thousands of passengers face disruption on the railways after major damage to overhead wires, causing mayhem at London King's Cross. Sunday journeys have been thrown into chaos after the wires broke between Peterborough and Stevenage, blocking part of the East Coast Main Line.
Operators affected and delays
Grand Central, Great Northern, Hull Trains, LNER, Lumo and Thameslink are slated for disruption until the end of the day, with train cancellations and up to two-hour delays in the pipeline. The rail route is a main artery connecting Scotland, East Midlands, Yorkshire and London King's Cross.
The Doncaster area has become a bottleneck as a result, and delays could spill into other parts of the network, National Rail warned.
Passengers report chaos at King's Cross
Stressed passengers are reporting huge queues at London King's Cross station as people tried to get through to the platforms. A passenger said: 'Anyone looking to travel from Kings Cross. Its chaos. No announcement.'
One dad said his 18-year-old daughter was 'stuck at London King's Cross' without help, and she was trying to travel back home for 'a big job interview' in the morning.
Safety measures and advice
LNER told passengers 'do not travel' today due to the disruption, saying tickets marked for today can be used tomorrow and Tuesday.
National Rail said: 'Train services are currently being disrupted because overhead electric wires have been damaged and are down in the area.
'For the safety of customers, staff and emergency responders, train services through the affected area have been suspended or severely restricted while specialist engineers assess the damage and begin repair work.
'Overhead line equipment carries high-voltage electricity and extensive safety checks must be completed before any repairs can take place and train services can safely resume. Recovery and repair work can be complex and may take some time, particularly if multiple sections of equipment have been damaged.
'As a result, trains may be delayed, revised, cancelled or unable to operate through the affected area.
'Great Northern / Thameslink strongly recommend checking your journey before travelling and allowing extra time if you need to travel today.'
Affected routes
Here are the rail operators and routes which are affected by the disruption from the overhead wires:
- Grand Central between Sunderland / Bradford Interchange / Halifax and London Kings Cross
- Great Northern between Peterborough and London Kings Cross
- Hull Trains between Beverley / Hull and London Kings Cross
- LNER between Aberdeen / Edinburgh / Newcastle / York / Harrogate / Skipton / Bradford Forster Square / Leeds / Lincoln and London Kings Cross
- Lumo between Glasgow Queen Street / Edinburgh / Newcastle and London Kings Cross
- Thameslink between Peterborough and London Kings Cross
