Disruption on a major rail line linking Scotland and London was caused by a rush to upgrade the route, it was claimed yesterday, after passengers suffered a sixth successive day of chaos.
Disruption on a major rail line linking Scotland and London was caused by a rush to upgrade the route, it was claimed yesterday, after passengers suffered a sixth successive day of chaos.
The British Chambers of Commerce said it thought the recent setbacks had occurred because the £9bn upgrade to the West Coast main line had been done in haste in order that it could be completed by the end of 2008.
The chambers also estimated that the disruption on the route had cost businesses around £38m over the past three days alone.
Problems with the overhead power wires are responsible for the latest setback to hit the decade-long works, one of Europe's biggest civil engineering projects.
The upgrade was expected to reduce the average journey time from Glasgow Central to London Euston from five hours to four hours and 26 minutes.
The latest disruption started on Tuesday night when there was an overhead wires failure near Wembley in north-west London. This followed similar difficulties at Bletchley in Buckinghamshire and Rugby in Warwickshire which hit services earlier on Tuesday.
However, the overhead wires problems meant neither Virgin Trains nor London Midland could run services in or out of London Euston during yesterday's morning rush hour.
David Frost, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce, accused Network Rail of failing to "adequately deliver".
He said: "There is no excuse for the huge amount of chaos this rushed upgrade to the west coast line has caused travellers.
"Network Rail must ensure there is a rapid and effective improvement in the reliability of the network. The British Chambers of Commerce questioned Network Rail's decision to bring forward the deadline of the west coast upgrade last year.
"We believe the recent disruptions have occurred because this vital project was rushed."
In freezing conditions yesterday, passengers had to be taken by bus to London from the Midlands, with journeys taking up to 90 minutes longer than normal.
London Overground, which operates suburban services out of Euston, was able to run trains in the morning rush hour. Many passengers travelling further afield, however, arrived at Euston to be greeted by empty departure boards.
Virgin and London Midland managed to begin Euston services around mid-morning but both companies were running a reduced number of trains.
A Virgin Trains spokesman said: "The Bletchley, Watford and Wembley incidents were in a comparatively local area. We need Network Rail to find out the cause of this and to correct it and also to see whether there is an under-lying issue here."
Gerry Doherty, leader of the TSSA rail union, said: "Passengers should be given full refunds for the past three days and Network Rail should explain why passengers are suffering these shambolic breakdowns."
A passenger watchdog last week urged ministers to "halt any further excessive rises" as above-inflation rail fare increases take effect.
The rises, which could see some fares more than double, will also force passengers to "shudder and shiver", according to Passenger Focus.
