Thursday 20 Oct 2022
Passengers warned of major disruption between Carlisle and Newcastle
- Region & Route:
- North West & Central
- | North West & Central: North West
Rail passengers are being warned of major disruption between Carlisle and Newcastle after an incident involving a freight train.
Network Rail is working with multiple agencies to find out how wagons carrying cement came off the track over the River Petteril shortly after 8pm last night (Wednesday 19 October).
No one was injured in the incident, but the railway will be closed for some time in both directions impacting all services between Carlisle, Newcastle and Appleby and Skipton.
Passengers are urged to check National Rail Enquiries at www.nationalrail.co.uk as there will be a significant number of unavoidable cancellations over the coming days.
As is standard practice with any train derailment, inspectors from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch will have to examine the scene before any efforts can be made to remove the train and make railway repairs.
With significant damage likely to the railway bridge, track and line side equipment, the route is expected to be entirely closed to all trains for several days.
Phil James, Network Rail’s North West route director, said: “I’m extremely sorry to passengers who are facing disruption today while we deal with this incident in Carlisle. Thankfully train derailments are rare and our priority now is to protect the safety of people using the railway, those living beside it and the surrounding environment while we carry out the necessary detailed investigation and complex recovery work.
“We will work around the clock will all agencies to do this and then speedily make our repairs to get the line reopened again for passengers and freight as soon as possible. In the meantime, please check National Rail Enquiries for the latest travel information as the scale of the damage means it will be some time before we get things back up and running as normal.”
For the latest updates on the incident, passengers can follow the Network Rail Lancashire and Cumbria Twitter account on @NetworkRailLC.
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
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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