Media centre

Sunday 23 Dec 2012

Network Rail staff out across UK clearing floods and repairing damage

Region & Route:

National

Engineers have been working overnight to monitor flooding and to try to keep the railway open.

However, with rain continuing to fall in many parts of the country and heavy downpours expected in south west and Wales, it is not expected that services in badly-affected areas will be back to normal today.
Much of the network is still running, albeit in some cases with amended timetables, and passengers are urged to check with their operators before they travel. The website www.nationalrail.co.uk is kept update 24 hours a day and will continue to reflect the changing picture.
The west country continues to be the most heavily-affected area, with several routes either blocked or open with restricted speeds. Wales also has some affected routes.
Network Rail is working closely with the Environment Agency and its weather service to try and keep things moving where possible.
Network Rail's director of network operations, Robin Gisby, said: "We apologise to passengers who have had their journeys disrupted at this busy time and we are doing all we can to keep things moving.
"However, safety is our priority and where flooding has submerged tracks or damaged structures we cannot allow trains to run.
"Our engineers have been out at vulnerable locations since the rains began and through the night to monitor the situation and we are doing all we can to help operators get passengers to where they want to get to."
Once again, Network Rail urges passengers travelling to affected areas, including west of Taunton and Wales, to check with www.nationalrail.co.uk before they leave.