Tuesday 17 Mar 2020
Passengers thanked after emergency West Coast main line repairs between Wigan and Preston
- Region & Route:
- North West & Central
Passengers are being thanked for their patience after overhead wire damage forced the West Coast main line to close between Wigan and Preston this morning.
Network Rail staff working on the railway line noticed the problem at 3am today (Tuesday March 17).
To fix the 25,000 volt cables which power trains, the railway had to be closed between Wigan and Preston, affecting travel to Liverpool and Glasgow.
The track reopened shortly after 11am today after the overnight work to repair the cables on Europe's busiest mixed-use passenger and freight railway line.
Phil James, Network Rail’s route managing director for the North West, said: “I am really sorry to passengers who were disrupted by the damage to the overhead wires in Euxton. The line has reopened now the issue has been fixed.
“Please continue to visit National Rail Enquiries or speak to your train operator whilst services get back to normal. Thank you for your patience.”
While services return to normal passengers are advised to check www.nationalrail.co.uk for the latest travel information.
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
07740 782954
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.
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