Passengers warned of disruption on cross-border trains after Storm Darragh 'wreaks havoc'

Passengers have been warned of disruption on cross-border trains after Storm Darragh damaged overhead line equipment.

On Monday morning, Network Rail urged passengers wishing to travel north and south-bound to check services before they travel, as all available services will be diverted via Birmingham while engineers complete critical safety works to overhead line equipment at Polesworth.

This means some early morning services between London and Scotland will take longer or be cancelled.

It comes after multiple incidents to remove debris and make repairs to infrastructure along the route as a result of Storm Darragh.

Gusts of 93mph were recorded as Storm Darragh hit the UK this weekend.

Millions of people were warned to stay indoors, thousands were without power, and trains were cancelled as the Government’s “risk to life” alert came into force.

Chris Baughan, Network Rail’s West Coast South route operations manager, said: “Storm Darragh has wreaked havoc on the railway this weekend and we are very sorry to passengers for the disruption to train services this morning on the West Coast Main Line as frontline teams continue with emergency repairs and the clean-up.

“Our engineers are working as fast as we can to stabilise a critical piece of the overhead line equipment in Polesworth. We are asking passengers to check before they travel as some morning journeys between London, the West Midlands, the North West and Scotland may take longer or have altered timetables.”