Misery as West Coast line shut for second time

Transport Correspondent

Saturday 30 June 2012

THOUSANDS of train passengers were hit by further disruption yesterday as the busiest rail route between England and Scotland was shut for the second time in 24 hours.

IN TRANSIT: Rail travellers hoping to take a train south queue outside Glasgow Central. Picture: Stewart Attwood

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DAMIEN HENDERSON Transport Correspondent

The closure of the West Coast Main Line at around 3pm left the holiday plans of thousands of people in ruins and came as rail services were gradually returning to normal after disruption caused by Thursday's floods. The line reopened last night.

Network Rail blamed the latest line closure on a problem with overhead wires, which led to passengers being bussed between Glasgow and Carlisle. Trains were also running slowly between Edinburgh and Newcastle after the East Coast Main Line re-opened at noon yesterday following a landslip near Berwick-upon-Tweed.Two landslips and a derailed freight train were continuing to cause problems for ScotRail passengers in the Highlands, while the Caledonian Sleeper service was cancelled.As the disruption from Thursday night's downpour continued, Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley stations were packed with passengers attempting to board a southbound train.Passengers were told their tickets from Thursday would still be valid yesterday, though with so many people boarding packed trains, seating reservations were scrapped.The rail problems added pressure to Scotland's biggest airports as passengers unable to board a train tried in vain to find a flight. Edinburgh, Scotland's busiest airport, said last night that all flights to London were sold out until Monday, with Glasgow similarly affected.The queue at Glasgow Central, consisting of several hundred passengers at a time, started in the main concourse and wound its way outside to Gordon Street and the rain. Despite a steady movement of people, it appeared not to significantly diminish overall, as more people kept arriving through the morning and into the afternoon.Louise Parke, a retired communications officer from Essex, started her journey from Aberdeen to Doncaster on Thursday night and by lunchtime yesterday she and her husband were in the queue at Glasgow having stayed in a hotel overnight in Edinburgh.She said: "It's not really anyone's fault. There were landslips on the east and west coast main lines, and there's not anything anyone could really have done."As many passengers were on holiday, a more festive mood held with other members of the crowd. Paul Browne, 39, was on the way to a stag weekend in Leeds with childhood friends from Glasgow. He said: "We don't really know what's going to happen, we just joined the queue and we're waiting to see what happens. It seems to be moving okay."Further details emerged yesterday of a fire on board a Virgin train from Birmingham to Glasgow that left hundreds of passengers enduring an 11-hour journey overnight on Thursday. The 5.20pm Birmingham to Glasgow train had to stop near Moffat in Dumfries and Galloway at about 10.30pm on Thursday.The fire was at the front of the train and 500 passengers were evacuated before continuing their journey to Glasgow in the back of the train. They arrived in Glasgow at around 4am. Gerry Hassan, a Scottish cultural critic, said he went through a "bizarre" 15-hour journey from London to Glasgow, after first boarding a train delayed by a landslip near Tebay in Cumbria then changing for the Virgin Train service whose engine caught fire."That train was stacked toe-to-toe with people. We waited two and half hours before we moved from there," he told the BBC.Two landslides and a freight train derailment also disrupted services in the Scottish Highlands. The 24-wagon train came off the tracks near Tulloch just after 7pm on Thursday because of a landslide, blocking the West Highland line between Crianlarich and Mallaig.ScotRail cancelled its Caledonian sleeper train from Fort William to London, and trains between Crianlarich and Mallaig were suspended. There was also a landslide between Garelochhead and Crianlarich.Network Rail warned passengers to expect further delay and disruption. A spokesman for ScotRail said: "Customers are advised to get up-to-date journey information before travelling."

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Misery as West Coast line shut for second time

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