Click here to listen to the latest rail news on Friday, 3rd November 2023
InTheNews: The latest rail news on Friday, 3rd November 2023
Disruption remains across the South West in the aftermath of Storm Ciarán, with train lines closed and hundreds of homes still without power.
An article on the ITV News website this morning says a number of train lines across the region are closed with services between Plymouth and Penzance not running until further notice.
All lines into Exeter St Davids are also closed due to flooding on the line, with disruption expected until 10am. Lines between Plymouth and Gunnislake also remain closed until further notice.
Rail passengers hoping to use the East Coast main line from Edinburgh Waverley to London King’s Cross have been urged to avoid travelling today – after both ends of the line were hit by electricity supply failures.
An article in The Independent says at Edinburgh Waverley, just before 5pm on Thursday, what Network Rail calls a “power surge” wiped out the signalling system around the station. It brought everything to a halt and led to all trains being cancelled to and from the Scottish capital, affecting tens of thousands of passengers.
Network Rail said “the complex nature of the fault” meant trains could not run until Friday. Services have restarted, but due to trains being out of position and speed restrictions in Scotland, many services are cancelled, including links to Plymouth and Newcastle.
Train services on the Far North Line will be disrupted until early next week as Network Rail engineers complete urgent repairs to a seawall at Lothbeg, between Brora and Helmsdale.
Recent storms in the area have caused extensive damage to a section of the seawall protecting the railway – washing away 18 metres of the wall in two locations.
Structural engineers have attended the site to assess options to repair the wall, with the work being made more complex because repairs can only take place at low tide.
Shipments of retired UK trains are poised to set sail from Great Yarmouth for Africa and Central America where they will return to passenger service.
An article on the BBC website says train enthusiasts gathered to see the InterCity 125 cars and carriages taken through the town with a police escort and loaded at the Norfolk port.
Some of the trains had recently been in service with CrossCountry and Great Western Railway – before their final journey by rail from Ely to Great Yarmouth.
Photo credit: Network Rail
