24.02.17
Storm Doris wreaks havoc across UK as London Midland Cross City line remains closed
The impact of yesterday’s Storm Doris has been felt on rail services across the country, as passengers saw major disruption and commuters found themselves stranded in London Euston station.
Services were affected by strong winds of up to 94mph that caused many lines to grind to a halt, and forced passengers to look for alternative travel just to get home.
Though most lines have now resumed their normal service, the London Midland’s Cross City Line remains closed today due to damage caused by the storm, as Network Rail and other TOCs continue to get the UK’s rail services back to full working capacity.
London Midland has put a rail replacement bus service in place along parts of the line and reminded passengers who were delayed by the storm to make compensation claims.
Tom Joyner, director of passenger services at London Midland reassured customers that they were doing all they could to get their trains running again, saying: “I would like to thank our customers for their patience and understanding as we have been dealing with the exceptional impact of Storm Doris.
“Network Rail colleagues have worked hard to clear and repair as many routes as possible to get Britain moving again this morning. However, the damage to the Cross City Line will take longer to repair.”
In anticipation of the storm, Network Rail warned customers that standard speed restrictions of 50mph were being put in place to prepare for the adverse weather conditions.
Mark Killick, chief operating officer for Network Rail’s London North West route, said: “We’re deploying extra Network Rail staff to deal with any issues such as fallen trees, and overhead line issues with the aim of keeping people on the move.”
In central London, Doris also caused nightmare journeys home for commuters as all trains from London Euston, including the Tube service, were suspended because of the storm which had been described as a “weather bomb” by the Met Office.
In Greater Manchester the storm’s effects were also felt as Virgin Trains cancelled all of their services between Manchester and London last night.
A spokesperson for Virgin advised passengers to not travel on Thursday, saying: “We are running an hourly service between London and Birmingham, and between London and Stafford, as well as an hourly service between Preston and Scotland.
“All other services are currently suspended. We strongly advise anyone who can postpone their journey to do so. Tickets for today will be accepted for journeys starting before 2pm tomorrow (Friday February 24), or anytime on Saturday.”