Media centre

Wednesday 20 Aug 2025

Rail disruption after major vandalism of Wigan railway signalling system

Region & Route:

North West & Central

| North West & Central: North West

Emergency work is underway to restore the signalling system for the West Coast Main Line, causing major disruption to service across the North West, to Scotland and London Euston.

Network Rail engineers have found that the cables carrying vital information that allows trains to move safely around the network have been cut in several locations along the track at Bamfurlong, near Wigan.

This deliberate act of vandalism is being investigated by British Transport Police and Network Rail is assisting with attempting to identify the criminals.

In the meantime, teams of engineers are working throughout the day and night to repair and test the cables. Due to the severity of the damage and the complexity of the repairs, it is likely disruption to train journeys will last into tomorrow (Thursday 21 August).

Phil James,  North West route director said:

This is an appalling act of criminal vandalism and I am sorry for the disruption that passengers have faced today. Our teams are hard at work making repairs which are very complex due to the nature of this vandalism. While this work carries on, train journeys across the North West and on the West Coast Mainline will continue to be disrupted. We are working closely with the train operators to provide what service while the necessary and complicated repair continues.

Chris Jackson, Managing Director at TransPennine Express, said:

It’s really disappointing to, once again, see so many of our customers’ journeys impacted by attempted cable theft. As an industry we have worked hard to tackle this issue and will continue to work together to support British Transport Police in any subsequent investigations. I’d like to thank our customers for their ongoing patience as we do all we can to keep them on the move, and call on anyone planning to travel to check carefully for any changes to their journeys.

Tricia Williams, managing director for Northern, said:

This disgraceful act of vandalism has caused severe disruption for our customers, as we have been forced to close lines and cancel services between Blackpool, Liverpool Lime Street and Wigan. Rail replacement buses are running for customers and ticket acceptance is in place, allowing them to travel via alternative routes with other train operators for no extra cost. We are sorry for the disruption and are working closely with Network Rail so we can restore services at the earliest opportunity.