Media centre

Monday 10 Feb 2020

Check before you travel as Storm Ciara damage means some journeys are disrupted

Region & Route:

North West & Central

Passengers are being urged to check before they travel as the railway continues to recover from Britain’s worst storm in seven years.

Yesterday (9 February) Storm Ciara brought gusts of 97mph which battered the railway across Britain.

Heavy rain and flash flooding washed away railway foundation stone and blew trees and other debris onto overhead power lines and tracks across the North West & Central region between London, the West Midlands, North West and Cumbria.

The majority of damage has been fixed and cleared but some routes remain affected and passengers should check before they travel for the latest information.

Jake Kelly, Network Rail’s strategic operations and passenger director for the North West & Central region, said: “I’d like to thank passengers for their patience while everyone battled against Storm Ciara on Sunday. I appreciate that many people will have experienced challenging journeys and long delays, but our preparation for the storm meant everyone remained safe and as many trains as possible continued to run. While our engineers continue to fix the storm damage, I’m urging people travelling today to check www.nationalrail.co.uk for the latest travel information.”

Network Rail engineers are continuing to work around-the-clock to repair the damage done to the West Coast main line, Chiltern main line, and lines in the West Midlands, North West and Cumbria.

Most of the network reopened again this morning, but some repairs are continuing, including:

• Clearance of nine trees which fell onto tracks and overhead lines on the West Coast main line at Four Ashes in Staffordshire – buses are replacing trains between Stafford and Wolverhampton for the rest of today
• Flooding blocking the West Coast main line at Caldew near Carlisle meaning no services in or out of Scotland
• Overhead electric line damage at Winsford in Cheshire – three out of four lines are open to trains

Passengers should check www.nationalrail.co.uk or with their train operator for the latest travel information.