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Saturday 25 Jan 2025

Disruption continues as railway recovery operation underway in Cumbria following Storm Eowyn

Region & Route:

North West & Central

A huge recovery operation is underway on the West Coast Main Line following the impacts of Storm Eowyn on Friday.

Strong winds buffeted the North West, with gusts in Cumbria reaching a staggering 83 mph. Across the route we saw over 60 incidents of flying debris, collapsed walls and even a roof affect the West Coast Mainline.

Today (Saturday 25) the recovery operation continues to repair the damage to the West Coast Main Line, the Cumbrian coastline, Settle to Carlisle and the Morecambe and Windemere branch lines.

Additional chainsaw teams are in place removing trees that have come down in the high winds and obstructing tracks.

A helicopter has this morning been deployed from Manchester to carry out a specialist aerial survey to establish areas which need attention. Specially trained staff can then be sent directly to site to carry out the repairs needed.

Passengers are advised to check before they travel as some services may still disrupted due to the recovery of the railway.

No Avanti services are running north of Preston to and from Glasgow and Edinburgh. Transpennine Express services will not operate north of Carlisle.

Phil James, North West route director at Network Rail, said: “I’m extremely proud of my teams who’ve battled difficult conditions to ensure we can get the railway back up and running for passengers as soon as possible.

“Our use of technology and helicopter inspections from above, are hugely important to ensure we can respond quickly and effectively.”

For more information on how storms impact the railway and how Network Rail works to keep people on the move, you can visit, What does stormy weather do to the railway - Network Rail.