Wednesday 25 Mar 2026
Passengers advised to plan ahead as disruption between Wolverhampton and Stafford continues
- Region & Route:
- North West & Central
Passengers travelling between Wolverhampton and Stafford have been warned of further disruption following strong winds.
Extreme weather conditions on Tuesday night (24 March) caused a tree to fall and damage overhead lines at Penkridge.
Engineering teams from Network Rail have been working hard to repair the damaged equipment and get people back on the move. Repairs will continue tonight (Wednesday 25 March) and into tomorrow morning.
Overhead line equipment – or OLE – is the name for the overhead wires and other equipment you can see on electrified railway lines. It carries 25,000 volts of electricity to power electric trains.
It’s a critical part of the railway that allows Network Rail to run faster and greener electric services, replacing trains running on diesel.
Martin Colmey, operations director for Network Rail Central, said: "Our teams are working hard to try to reopen the railway as soon as possible but passengers should expect further disruption tomorrow.
"Services in the area are likely to continue to run on altered schedules, with some cancelled. Please plan ahead if you are travelling on the railway."
For up-to-date travel information and detail on alternative travel please check www.nationalrail.co.uk.
Contact information
Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41
Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries
Journalists
Network Rail press office - North West & Central Region
0330 854 0100
NWCmediarelations@networkrail.co.uk
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We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.
Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.
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