Media centre

Wednesday 19 Oct 2022

Passengers thanked after overnight emergency track repairs in Huyton

Region & Route:

North West & Central

| North West & Central: North West

The railway between Huyton and St Helens has reopened after emergency track repairs overnight.

Network Rail engineers have been working flat out to repair a cracked crossing – an important section of railway which allows trains to change from track to track.

The fault was found yesterday and caused disruption to passengers as trains had to run over the area at 5mph to prevent any more damage.

The complex repairs could only take place at night when trains aren’t running because it involved taking out the whole damaged section and replacing it with a new component to get the busy route reopened.

Now the urgent repairs have taken place, passenger and freight trains can run at near to normal speed over the repaired section of track for start of service today (Wednesday 19 October).

Phil James, Network Rail’s North West route director, said: “I’m sorry to passengers who’ve been affected by this crucial component of the railway failing yesterday and we’ve been working as fast as we can to safely keep people on the move.

“Thankfully our team of engineers were able to carry out their complex repairs overnight and I’d like to thank passengers for their patience during this period of unexpected disruption.”

Network Rail teams are closely monitoring the section of repaired railway with a 50mph speed limit in place, but this isn't expected to impact on train times today.

For more information on how Network Rail carries out repairs to the railway you can visit: https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/looking-after-the-railway/track/

During periods of disruption passengers are reminded that they can stay up to date with the latest travel information by checking www.nationalrail.co.uk.