Tuesday 17 Mar 2020

Travel warning as overhead line damage forces closure of West Coast main line between Wigan and Preston

Region & Route:
North West & Central

Passengers are warned to check before travelling today after overhead wire damage forced closure of the West Coast main line between Wigan and Preston.

Network Rail staff working on the railway line noticed the damage at 3am this morning (Tuesday). Work is under way to fix the problem.

Because of this damage, the line is blocked between Wigan and Preston. This affects services also travelling to Liverpool and Glasgow.

Phil James, Network Rail’s route managing director for the North West, said: “I am really sorry to passengers who have been disrupted by the damage to the overhead wires in Euxton.

“A Network Rail team is working really hard to fix the damage and reopen the railway as soon as possible.

“In the meantime, please visit National Rail Enquiries or with your train operator for the latest travel advice.”

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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