Media centre

Wednesday 5 Oct 2016

Railway between Birmingham and London Marylebone reopens after cable fire

Region & Route:

| North West & Central

The railway between Birmingham and London Marylebone reopened to passengers this morning after extensive repairs following a cable fire.

Network Rail’s engineers worked throughout yesterday (4 October) and overnight to complete the repairs, including extensive safety testing, after a fire destroyed power and data cables on the Kilburn railway viaduct.

Martin Ball, area director for Network Rail, said: “I’d like to thank passengers for their patience yesterday while we did everything possible to repair the damaged cables and reopen the railway.

“The fire damaged data and power cables which meant there was no signalling – effectively the traffic lights of the railway – so it was not safe for trains to run in and out of Marylebone.

“Network Rail used all of its resources to safely complete the repairs so passengers could once again travel into London as usual this morning.”

Jenny Payne, customer service director, Chiltern Railways, said: “We’d like to thank customers for their understanding during the incident that meant we were not able to run trains to and from Marylebone Station for most of Tuesday 4 October.

"Wednesday 5 October saw us return to our regular timetable, however customers may have found their train to be shorter than usual, due to some vehicles still being in the wrong places. We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this.”

The cause of the fire is still unknown and an investigation is underway.