The railway between Huyton and St Helens has reopened after emergency track repairs overnight last night.
A crack in a crossing was found yesterday, a major issue as it is a vital section of railway which allows trains to move from track to track. The issue caused major disruption as trains had to run over the area at 5mph to prevent any more damage.
Repairs could only take place at night when trains weren’t running as it involved removing the whole damaged section and replacing it with a new section, so Network Rail engineers worked round the clock to repair the cracked crossing in order to get the busy route reopen in time for commuters this morning.
The urgent repairs have now taken place, and passenger and freight trains are running over the repaired section of track. Network Rail teams are monitoring the section of repaired railway with a 50mph speed limit in place, but this isn’t expected to impact on train times today.
Phil James, Network Rail’s North West route director, said: “I’m sorry to passengers who’ve been affected by this crucial component of the railway failing yesterday and we’ve been working as fast as we can to safely keep people on the move.
“Thankfully our team of engineers were able to carry out their complex repairs overnight and I’d like to thank passengers for their patience during this period of unexpected disruption.”
