21.02.13
East Coast overhead line failure – disruption continues
Passengers on the East Coast main line are facing further disruption, over overhead line failures earlier in the week.
On Tuesday night power cable failed in St Neots, Cambridgeshire. Around 200 passengers were left stranded at King’s Cross after the last train to Leeds was cancelled.
All four lines between Biggleswade and Peterborough are blocked, Network Rail has reported. Passengers are being urged to defer journeys until tomorrow, when tickets dated for today will still be accepted.
A statement from operator First Capital Connect said: “Due to the collapse of approximately 1km (0.62 miles) of overhead electrical wire between Peterborough and Biggleswade, First Capital Connect are currently unable to operate any services to Peterborough, Huntingdon, St Neots and Sandy.
“Network Rail are currently making repairs to allow diesel trains to run through the affected area. However it is expected that a full electric service will not be restored until Friday.”
Bob Crow, leader of the RMT union, said: “We have been raising serious concerns about the shortage of overhead line (OHL) crew and capacity on Britain's railways for a number of years now.
“We repeated those points only last week when the lines came down at Radlett and now just days later we have another massive OHL failure on our hands. We cannot carry on like this.”
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