UK: delays & disruptions

Engineering works are taking place at places across Britain, affecting various services. You can find details of major works below, but it's also possible to check the status of a train using the National Rail Enquiries departure board.

Poor weather may impact your journey in England and Scotland until Friday 30 January 

Route(s) affected: Various routes across England and Scotland

Description

Storm Chandra is expected to cause disruption across parts of the country today.

The Met Office have issued various yellow weather warnings for parts of England and Scotland for wind, rain, ice and snow. These warnings run through until the end of Thursday 29 January.

Trains running on various routes across the network may be impacted by the poor weather. Please check your entire journey in full if you plan to travel on any of the affected days.

The weather can impact the railway in a number of different ways:

• Heavy rain can overwhelm drainage systems, flooding tracks and slowing down trains
• Water runs off hard ground onto the tracks, while ballast can wash away, destabilising the track
• Heavy rain can also short-circuit power supplies for trains and cause signalling equipment to fail
• Strong winds can blow trees into infrastructure, damaging the overhead lines that power electric trains
• Speed restrictions may be implemented to ensure trains are able to run safely on the railway.

Compensation:

You may be entitled to compensation if you experience a delay in completing your journey today.

Please keep your train ticket and make a note of your journey, as both will be required to support any claim.

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Major disruption between Huddersfield and Manchester Victoria expected until 06:00 on Thursday 29 January 

Route(s) affected

TransPennine Express between Newcastle and Liverpool Lime Street / Manchester Airport, between Saltburn / Redcar Central and Manchester Victoria, between York / Huddersfield and Manchester Victoria, between York / Huddersfield and Manchester Piccadilly, between Hull and Liverpool Lime Street, and between Wakefield Kirkgate and Manchester Piccadilly

Description

There was a fire in Standedge Tunnel on Sunday 25 January. Once the fire had been extinguished, damage to the tunnel structure was discovered that requires extensive repair work before the tunnel can be deemed safe for the passage of trains again.

As a result of this, some lines in the area are currently closed. Trains running between Huddersfield and Manchester Victoria will either be cancelled, delayed, revised or diverted via an alternative route, where this is possible.

Major disruption is expected to continue until 06:00 on Thursday 29 January.

Passenger advice:

The following routes will be subject to delays, alterations, short notice cancellations:

• Manchester Piccadilly - Huddersfield / York (stopper services)
• Manchester Victoria - Redcar Central
• Liverpool Lime Street - Newcastle
• Liverpool Lime Street - Hull

Where possible, trains will divert via the Calder Valley. Trains that divert between Leeds and Manchester Victoria will not call at Huddersfield, Slaithwaite, Marsden, Greenfield, Mossley or Stalybridge.

Passengers travelling between Dewsbury and Huddersfield please travel on the below train services between Dewsbury and Brighouse to connect with the rail replacement bus service between Brighouse and Huddersfield.

The Manchester Airport to Redcar Central services will call additionally at Brighouse, in both directions. From Brighouse, connections can be made to Huddersfield via rail replacement bus services.

What should I do?

You can use your ticket at no extra cost on the following services in both directions:

• Northern services between Sheffield and Leeds / Huddersfield, Manchester Victoria and Stalybridge
• CrossCountry services between Leeds and Sheffield until the end of the day
• TransPennine Express and East Midlands Railway services between Sheffield and Manchester Piccadilly / Liverpool Lime Street
• LNER services between York and Doncaster until the end of the day
• Metrolink services between Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria / Manchester Airport

Passengers travelling to and from Huddersfield, please travel via Brighouse where replacement bus services are in operation between Brighouse and Huddersfield, in both directions.

Rail replacement transport:

Between Brighouse and Huddersfield:

• Brighouse to Huddersfield departing at XX:05 every hour from 06:05 until 22:05
• Huddersfield to Brighouse departing at XX:30 every hour from 06:30 until 22:30

Between Huddersfield and Stalybridge / Manchester Piccadilly:

• Manchester Piccadilly to Huddersfield calling at Stalybridge, Mossley, Greenfield, Marsden and Slaithwaite departing at XX:00 every hour from 06:00 until 22:00
• Huddersfield to Manchester Piccadilly calling at Slaithwaite, Marsden, Greenfield, Mossley and Stalybridge departing at XX:00 every hour from 06:00 until 22:00 and then an additional 22:45 service

Please be advised other operators are likely to be busy and travelers may experience overcrowding on services.

Compensation:

You may be entitled to compensation if you experience a delay in completing your journey today. Please keep your train ticket and make a note of your journey, as both will be required to support any claim.

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Wintry weather and Storm Goretti to affect services across England, Scotland and Wales until Friday 9 January 

Route(s) affected

Across various routes in England, Scotland and Wales

Description

The Met Office have issued yellow and amber weather warnings for snow, ice, rain and wind that may affect services across England, Wales and Scotland until the end of the day on Friday 9 January.

Storm Goretti has been named and will bring strong winds and snow to some parts of England and Wales. Services will be impacted today, 8 January and on Friday 9 January.

If you are travelling on any of the affected days you are strongly advised to check your full journey before you travel.

Stay safe on the rail network in these snowy and icy conditions. Don't rush, hold the handrail on stairs and escalators, and use the lift if you've got heavy luggage, bikes or pushchairs.

 At present, the following train companies are expecting to be significantly affected by the poor weather:

•  Avanti West Coast
• CrossCountry
• East Midlands Railway
• London Northwestern Railway
• Transpennine Express (Manchester to Sheffield route)
• Transport for Wales
• West Midlands Railway 

The forecast weather may cause trains to be disrupted:

• In very cold weather, snow and ice can build up on the tracks blocking points, the equipment that allows trains to move between tracks
• Ice can coat the electrified third rail and overhead power cables, preventing trains from drawing the power they need to run and leaving them stranded
• Icicles on tunnels, bridges and other structures can also damage trains and overhead power cables
• In very snowy weather where snow lies deeper than 30cm, trains can’t run safely unless they have been fitted with snow ploughs.

Compensation:

You are entitled to compensation if you experience a delay in completing your journey.

Please keep your train ticket and make a note of your journey, as both will be required to support any claim.

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Major disruption between London Paddington and Heathrow Terminal 5 / Reading until the end of the day.

Route(s) affected

Elizabeth line services to / from London Paddington

Great Western Railway services to / from London Paddington

Heathrow Express between London Paddington and Heathrow Terminal 5

Description

Multiple incidents are severely disrupting services between London Paddington and Heathrow Terminal 5 / Reading. A significantly reduced service is operating between these stations.

The incidents are as follows:

• There is damage to the overhead electric wires between London Paddington and Acton Main Line
• A freight train had broken down at a critical location outside a junction near Reading - this is now on the move

Therefore, trains may be cancelled, severely delayed by up to 45 minutes, or revised. Major disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Elizabeth line customer advice:

Elizabeth line are running a limited reduced service. Some services have been altered as follows:

• Services between Shenfield and Heathrow Terminal 5 will run between Shenfield and London Liverpool Street
• Two trains per hour are scheduled to run between London Paddington and Heathrow Terminal 4, however, these are experiencing significant delays

Customers requiring Heathrow Airport Terminal 5 are advised to take services to Heathrow Terminal 4 and change at Heathrow Terminals 2 & 3 for Heathrow Express services to Terminal 5. Alternatively, passengers may travel to Heathrow on the London Underground Piccadilly line at no additional cost.

To help you complete your journey, you can use your ticket at no extra cost on:

• London Underground services via any reasonable route
• London Buses and local buses between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport / Reading
• Docklands Light Railway services via any reasonable route
• Southeastern services between Abbey Wood and London Terminals
• Thameslink services between Abbey Wood and Farringdon
• South Western Railway services between London Waterloo and Reading

Great Western Railway customer advice:

Services are on the move again following the broken down freight train. The overhead wire damage requires ongoing repairs which are expected to continue until the end of the day. Therefore, only one line is available for trains to use.

Local stopping services between that run London Paddington and Didcot Parkway will only run between Reading and Didcot Parkway.

Most of longer distance Intercity services will continue to run between London Paddington and Reading, but may be subject to delay and some services between London Paddington and Newbury, Cardiff Central, Bristol Temple Meads and Oxford may not run.

To help you complete your journey, your ticket can be used at no extra cost on:

• Chiltern Railways between London Marylebone and Oxford
• Elizabeth line between London Paddington and Reading (please note that Elizabeth Line services have also been affected by these incidents today, so may be subject to disruption)
• London Underground Bakerloo line to London Waterloo and London Marylebone
• South Western Railway between London Waterloo and Reading

If you travel from a station on one of the routes suggested, your rail ticket will be valid to travel back to the same station later in the day.

Heathrow Express customer advice:

A half hourly service will be in operation.

You might want to consider postponing your journey until services return to normal.

Compensation:

You may be entitled to compensation if you experience a delay in completing your journey today. Please keep your train ticket and make a note of your journey, as both will be required to support any claim.

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This is expected until 07:30.

Check before you travel:

Your customers can check your journey using the National Rail Enquiries real-time Journey Planner.

Compensation:

Your customers may be entitled to compensation if they experience a delay in completing their journey today. Please keep your train ticket and make a note of your journey, as both will be required to support any claim.

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