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Thursday 28 Sep 2006

KING’S CROSS SERVICES BACK ON TRACK

Region & Route:

National

Passengers travelling to and from King’s Cross today will find services gradually returning to normal, as Network Rail engineers work quickly to re-open lines that were closed this morning due to problems with the overhead power lines in north London. A spokesman for Network Rail said:  “We have been working as quickly as possible to re-open the lines and get train services to and from King’s Cross station back on the move.  From lunchtime onwards, services will begin to get back to normal, and we aim to have them fully restored by rush hour this evening.  We apologise to passengers for the disruption they experienced this morning, and we will be carrying out a thorough investigation to establish the causes.” Problems with the overhead power lines began at 7.30am this morning, when reports were received that lines north of Finsbury Park were down.  This meant that no trains were able to run between Potters Bar and King’s Cross station.  Network Rail engineers went immediately to the area to investigate. By 8.40am, the engineers managed to open the southbound lines, allowing trains to travel into King’s Cross.  By 11am, they managed to reopen the northbound lines, by isolating the affected area around which trains can be diverted.  Services will gradually return to normal, and should be fully restored by the evening rush hour. An investigation into the cause of the overhead line fault is underway.