East Midlands Railway [EMR] have announced there will be a reduced timetable to and from London on some days next week as a result of the extremely hot weather forecast. The Met Office has issued a 'red extreme heat' warning as temperatures in the East Midlands and London are forecast to reach 40C.
This extreme heat can cause train tracks to buckle and bend which poses a "serious safety risk" to East Midlands Railway's London trains which travel at speeds between 100 and 125 miles per hour.
A lower speed limit will be in place on the Midland Main Line on Monday and Tuesday [July 18 and 19]. There will be fewer services and journeys will take significantly longer, EMR have said.
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Customers are being advised to only travel if necessary as on Monday and Tuesday, EMR will operate:
- One train per hour to/from Sheffield (normally two)
- One train per hour to/from Nottingham (normally two)
- One train per hour between Corby and Kettering only (normally two trains between Corby and London)
EMR Regional services will broadly run as normal but there will be some cancellations. Customers are advised to check on the day of travel for short notice changes.
Neil Grabham, Customer Services Director at East Midlands Railway, said: “The start of next week will be very hot and and although we want to help people enjoy it - our priority will always be the safety of our customers and our staff.
"As a result, fewer services will run and journeys will take significantly longer. We are asking customers to only travel if necessary. If customers do travel, please bring a bottle of water and anything else needed to keep well in the heat and make sure to check your journey before setting off."
Gary Walsh, Route Director for Network Rail, said: “The railway in this country is simply not engineered to run normally in such extreme temperatures. We’ve got extra teams out around the route, ready to respond to any incidents but with temperatures set to break all records, we need to also reduce the speed at which trains can run from late morning until around 8pm on both days.
"This reduces the risk of tracks buckling in the heat and also means that when the overhead line expands it won’t get tangled on passing trains.
“Reduced speeds means fewer services can run so I am asking passengers to only travel if they need to. If you do need to catch a train, please plan well ahead, leave more time for your journey and take plenty of water with you.”
For more information and to check journeys, click here.
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