Railway services between Manchester Piccadilly and Stoke-on-Trent are continuing to face major disruption this evening after 30m of 25,000-volt overhead lines were damaged.
The stretch of electric cable - which is used to power up trains from above – was damaged earlier today in Cheadle Hulme. Some of the railway line was also damaged.
Commuters in Stockport and Macclesfield were earlier warned of disruption, with some services cancelled or facing delays of up to an hour. Passengers have been warned that services between Stockport and Hazel Grove are still likely to be delayed this evening due to levels of congestion.
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Network Rail has apologised to passengers and said no services between Manchester and Stoke-on-Trent will run for the rest of today (February 21) whilst engineers are on-site to fix the damage. Repair work is expected to carry on throughout the night.
A number of replacement bus services between Prestbury, Adlington, Poynton and Bramhall, Cheadle and Wilmslow remain in operation this evening, whilst passengers being asked to check with their rail provider online before travelling on any of the affected routes.
Kara Wood, Network Rail’s North West route head of performance, said: “I’m really sorry we’re unable to give passengers the service they expect and deserve today. Our engineers are working as fast as they can to fix the fault with the overhead electric cables in Cheadle Hulme.
“As this will run for the rest of today and overnight, I’d urge anyone travelling today to check with National Rail Enquiries or their train operator before they set off for the latest information.”
Avanti West Coast services between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston are also affected, with diversions leading to longer journey times as a result. CrossCountry services between Birmingham and Manchester are not serving Macclesfield or Stoke-on-Trent.
A spokesperson for Avanti West Coast said: “While Network Rail repair the overhead cables, our trains to and from Manchester will be diverted and unable to call at Stockport. We strongly advise customers making journeys on our Manchester route today (21 February) to check before they travel.
"We’d like to thank our customers for their patience and remind them if they’re delayed by 15 minutes or more to claim delay compensation.”
Northern and CrossCountry services are also affected.
Chris Jackson, regional director at Northern, said: “We are sorry for the disruption this has caused our passengers and want to thank everyone for their patience. Rail replacement buses will be in operation and some train services will be diverted, please check your journey before you travel.”
Nick Chadwick, CrossCountry regional director for the West Midlands and North West, said: “We’re sorry to customers who have been affected by the cable damage today. As a result, CrossCountry services between Birmingham and Manchester are currently unable to call at Macclesfield and Stoke-on-Trent. We advise customers to check before they travel and to expect short-term cancellations and delays for the rest of the day as work takes place to resolve this.”
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