Media centre

Thursday 17 Feb 2022

Anglia’s rail companies urge customers to re-plan journeys as storms threaten major disruption

Region & Route:

Eastern: Anglia

Rail companies across Anglia are urging customers planning to travel on Friday to reconsider their plans after amber and yellow warnings were issued for Storm Eunice, with strong winds expected to affect much of the UK.

Journeys will take longer as blanket speed restrictions will be imposed for safety reasons on some rail lines across the region.

The severe weather will affect journeys across the country with winds set to reach as high as 90mph in some areas. High winds can lead to trees and debris being blown onto train lines which block trains and can cause delays and cancellations.

Rail companies are asking people to plan their travel for a different day and to check before they travel. Passengers can also claim compensation if they have been affected by the disruption. 

• There will be no service on the East Suffolk Line and the Marks Tey to Sudbury line owing to the risk of falling trees. Because of the rural location of these lines, it can take longer for Network Rail staff to rescue passengers from stranded trains if trees fall. It is therefore safer to close these lines and keep passengers safe.

Network Rail and train operators are working together to keep people safe. Network Rail has additional engineers out across the network ready to react to problems when they happen and will check all affected lines for damage before reintroducing services as quickly as possible. Train operators are accepting tickets for Friday on equivalent services any time on Thursday or Saturday and are urging customers to check before they travel.

Those who live near the railway are also advised to tie down garden furniture and anything that might end up on the railway lines to keep passengers safe and reduce the risk of further delays.

Jacqueline Starr, Chief Executive Officer at the Rail Delivery Group said: “Rail companies are working hard to keep people moving safely but journeys will be disrupted, especially on Friday. We’re asking people to plan their travel for a different day if possible or to check and re-check before they travel.”

Ellie Burrows, Network Rail’s route director for Anglia, said: “We will be doing everything we can to keep as many services as possible running safely and reliably on Friday, but with such strong winds expected we know that disruption to passengers’ journeys is inevitable. Please consider whether your journey is necessary on Friday, and if possible re-plan your journey for another day.”

Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director, said: “We will be running fewer trains and journeys will take longer. If you have to make an essential journey please check our website and social media before you set out. We are very sorry to inconvenience customers, but we want to make sure that we run a safe and reliable service in the extreme conditions that have been forecast.”

Angie Doll, Interim Chief Operating Officer, Govia Thameslink Railway, said: “Due to the significant impacts expected from Storm Eunice, passengers are advised not to travel on Southern, Great Northern and Thameslink routes on Friday 18 February.

“Extremely high winds are forecast meaning that 50mph speed restrictions will be in place across the entire network during the day. We expect there to be significant disruption to services and customers may need to change trains to complete their journeys.

“Customers that have already purchased tickets for tomorrow will be able to use them to travel today or Saturday instead and this ticket acceptance is in place with all train operators.”

Notes:

• Check before you travel: You can check your journey using the National Rail Enquiries real-time Journey Planner. If you would like to follow this incident on Twitter, please use #StormDudley and #StormEunice
• Some train companies are accepting tickets for different operators over the coming days. Customers are advised to check with their train company.
• Some train companies are accepting tickets for equivalent services on other days beyond Thursday and Saturday. Customers are advised to check with their train company.
• You may return an unused Ticket to the original retailer or Train Company from whom it was purchased, where you will be given a full refund with no administration fee charged, if you decide not to travel because the train you intended to use is: • cancelled, or • delayed, or • rescheduled from that in Published Timetable of the Day after you have purchased a Ticket or Tickets.
• As extreme weather becomes more frequent, the rail industry is working to make the network more resilient while encouraging more people onto trains to benefit the environment.