Passengers in North West advised of flooding across rail network

Thursday 17 Oct 2024

Passengers in North West advised of flooding across rail network

Region & Route:: North West & Central; | North West & Central: North West

Heavy rainfall across the route has caused some services to be disrupted.

Network Rail teams have been working hard to reduce the effects of the weather on Wednesday night and Thursday morning (16-17 October).

Flooding has been reported between Preston and Lancaster, Chester and Crewe, Crewe and Liverpool, and in Warrington.

Passengers are advised to check their journey before they travel and to allow more time on affected routes.

Currently, trains are unable to run between Chester and Crewe as water levels are above the track.

Phil James, Network Rail’s North West route director, said: “I’m sorry to passengers whose journeys are delayed today as a result of heavy rainfall across the North West. Our teams are working hard to drain the water away and resolve any damage to our signalling systems or railway equipment.

“I’d advise passengers check before they travel today as the railway recovers from the weather.”

Other parts of the network experienced flooding overnight, however, the railway’s drainage systems were able to handle the water and services have reopened in the early hours.

Passengers are being advised of further expected heavy rainfall this Friday (18 October), particularly in Cumbria. Engineers are preparing to respond to potential flooding.

Network Rail is advising passengers in the North West to check their journeys before travelling from the afternoon of Friday 18 October.

Notes to Editors

In 2023 weather-related disruptions caused about 900,000 minutes of delays nationally.

Heavy rain can overwhelm the drainage systems on the railway and make flooding more likely.

When the railway floods, points and signalling equipment can be damaged. These systems rely on intricate wiring and power supplies, and sometimes need replacing before services can run again.

Sometimes flood water doesn’t stop trains running, but if water levels rise above the rails, trains have to reduce their speed to prevent damage to the train, which in turn can cause delays.

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

About Network Rail

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.

Media centre