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Sunday 20 Feb 2022

Passengers warned of further rail disruption from Storm Franklin

Region & Route:

North West & Central

| North West & Central: North West

Rail passengers are being warned that the third major storm in just five days is set to bring further travel disruption across the North West.

People are being advised to check before they travel at www.nationalrail.co.uk when Network Rail brings in safety speed restrictions on some routes during Storm Franklin on Monday 21 February.

Thousands of engineers have been working all weekend to repair damage from both Storm Dudley and Eunice.

This includes work to secure roofing panels at Preston station which led to it being closed to passengers on Friday and Saturday.

With barely any let up in the wild weather, now Storm Franklin will bring further heavy rain and gales - with travel disruption likely.

Up to 80mm of rain is forecast across the North West - this could lead to some sections of railway flooding.

More gale force winds could see trees already weakened from the previous storms at risk of coming down onto railway lines and the high-voltage web of overhead cables which power trains.

Phil James, Network Rail’s North West route director, said: “The relentless stormy weather at the moment continues to cause us a real challenge - it seems as soon as we’ve recovered from one storm another is waiting in the wings to cause more damage all over again.

“I’d please ask passengers to follow the advice of their train operator with some running reduced timetables on Monday. Safety is our number one priority and we’re constantly monitoring the weather and the railway to make sure we can keep people and goods moving safely.”

Passengers are being urged to visit www.nationalrail.co.uk before they set out - to check that their train is running or if there is any travel disruption - so they can avoid very long journey times.