Major rail disruption after wires damaged

Rail passengers faced major disruption after damaged electric wires led to lines being blocked in and out of Birmingham New Street.

The incident was first reported just before 14:00 BST on Wednesday and the delays and cancellations continued into the evening, with New Street posting on X that it had brought in extra staff to help passengers.

New Street is the busiest railway station outside of London and the damage was affecting services for many operators, National Rail said.

Services running from or through New Street to cities including London, Manchester, Glasgow and Cardiff were among those affected, as well as many services within the West Midlands.

Passengers were warned their trains could be cancelled, delayed by up to three hours or not run for their full route.

There was also a knock on effect with trains between Cambridge and Stansted Airport being cancelled as staff were displaced.

Those arriving at Birmingham New Street were confronted with electronic departure boards warning of severe disruption.

At Wolverhampton's railway station, a BBC reporter said all the signs warned of delays.

Shel, a train driver, posted on X shortly after 17:00 BST that she had been stuck in Redditch for three hours due to the disruption.

"Today hasn't quite gone as planned!" she posted.

Nick Cosgriff, a passenger at Derby's station told the BBC that trains travelling to New Street from the north of the country were terminating at Derby instead, with trains arriving "every few minutes or so", resulting in large crowds.

He said there were hundreds of stranded rail passengers were waiting in Derby for promised replacement coaches to arrive.

"Throughout the late afternoon the crowds grew larger, as further trains arrived, decanting more passengers at Derby," he said.

Ian Farnell from West Bromwich got onto a train at Walsall which was headed for Birmingham.

He said: "The driver said New Street had lost power and that we could be stuck here for three minutes or three hours - he couldn't say which.

"Thankfully I could get a bus home from Walsall instead."

The wires were damaged between New Street and Water Orton in Warwickshire, according to post on X by Transport for West Midlands.

A spokesperson for Network Rail said that at 13:40 BST "damaged overhead power lines were reported on the approach to Birmingham New Street station, near to Curzon Street".

Curzon Street is due to be the Birmingham terminus for the new HS2 line.

A post on Network Rail's New Street X account, showed a photo of the damage, with loose cables hanging from a metal gantry. Repairs would be carried out overnight, the post said.

On some affected lines, passengers could use their train tickets on other routes, while on other lines, replacement buses were being used or had been requested, National Rail said.

By about 16:10 BST, they added that some lines had reopened following the damage to the wires but urged passengers to check before they travelled.

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