Some
train
services


are
still
disrupted
today
after
a
weekend
of
wild
weather
which
caused
damage
to
railways
in
many
places,
as
Storm
Darragh
swept
across
Britain.
The
Met
Office
issued
a
rare
‘red’
warning
for
South
Wales
and
the
Bristol
Channel
on
Saturday,
which
meant
the
weather
posed
a
threat
to
life.

Many
trains
were
cancelled
or
delayed
as
the
strong
winds
brought
down
trees
across
the
railway.
These
sometimes
pulled
down
overhead
lines,
while
heavy
rain
in
some
places
flooded
the
track.
Network
Rail
said
its
engineers
had
removed
hundreds
of
fallen
trees
on
the
Wales
&
Borders
route
alone,
while
many
objects,
such
as
fencing
panels,
were
also
blown
on
to
the
track.
Most
Welsh
routes
were
closed
at
the
height
of
the
storm
on
Saturday.

Operators
appealed
to
passengers
to
only
attempt
essential
journeys
over
the
weekend,
and
some
warned
against
trying
to
travel
at
all.
Where
trains
still
ran,
timetables
were
often
reduced.
Chiltern
cut
back
its
services
to
one
train
an
hour,
and
all
Great
Western
Railway
trains
were
cancelled
in
Cornwall.
There
were
also
no
trains
on
the
lines
to
Barnstaple
and
Okehampton
in
Devon.

A
fallen
tree
at
Outwood
damaged
the
overhead
wires
between
Leeds
and
Wakefield
Westgate,
while
trees
blocked
the
line
between
Wolverhampton
and
Stafford
and
also
at
Lowdham,
disrupting
East
Midlands
Railway
services
between
Nottingham
and
Newark
Castle.
There
were
similar
problems
on
some
Greater
Anglia
routes,
where
more
fallen
trees
were
reported
between
Lakenheath
and
Shippea
Hill,
and
on
some
lines
around
Ely.

Trains
were
delayed
by
speed
restrictions
between
Tamworth
and
Nuneaton
because
of
a
landslip.
CrossCountry
suspended
its
services
from
Birmingham
New
Street
to
Plymouth,
Cardiff
Central
and
Manchester
Piccadilly.

Also
in
Birmingham,
West
Midlands
Railway
cancelled
all
trains
on
the
Cross
City
South
line,
and
fallen
trees
blocked
the
line
at
various
places
between
Birmingham
New
Street,
Longbridge
and
Redditch.
There
were
no
trains
from
Birmingham
to
Chester
or
Shrewsbury,
or
from
Bidston
to
Wrexham
Central.

Further
north,
high
winds
meant
that
speed
restrictions
were
necessary
between
Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
Edinburgh
and
Aberdeen,
and
all
trains
were
cancelled
between
Middlesbrough
and
Whitby.

In
south
east
England
trees
blocked
the
lines
between
Frimley
and
Camberley,
and
between
Guildford
and
Effingham
Junction,
while
a
‘precarious
tree’
was
reported
at
Liphook.

Westbury,
Chippenham
and
Worcester
Shrub
Hill
stations
were
closed
because
their
roofs
had
been
damaged
by
the
wind.

Network
Rail
says
damage
to
overhead
wires
at
Polesworth
is
still
being
repaired
this
morning,
and
some
early
trains
between
London
and
Scotland
may
be
delayed
or
cancelled.
There
will
be
no
trains
today
between
Stoke-on-Trent
and
Stafford,
because
engineers
are
working
to
remove
a
large
fallen
tree
and
repair
the
damage
it
caused,
while
trains
are
unlikely
to
be
restored
between
Swansea
and
Carmarthen
before
midday.


Routes
in
mid-
and
North
Wales
will
also
remain
closed
today,
and
trains
will
be
cancelled
between
Bromsgrove,
Redditch,
Birmingham
New
Street
and
Lichfield
Trent
Valley
while
overhead
lines
are
repaired.

In
Devon
and
Cornwall,
services
are
not
expected
to
start
between
Exeter
St
Davids
and
Barnstaple
until
about
09.45,
between
St
Erth
and
St
Ives
until
about
11.00,
Liskeard
and
Looe
until
about
11.30,
and
between
Plymouth
and
Gunnislake
until
about
13.00.
Trains
on
the
Par
to
Newquay
line
are
still
being
replaced
by
buses
because
of
unrelated
engineering
work.

Network
Rail’s
West
Coast
South
route
director
Gary
Walsh
said:
‘This
weekend,
Storm
Darragh
wreaked
havoc
on
the
railway.
We’ve
got
teams
working
up
and
down
the
West
Coast
Main
Line
removing
debris
that’s
causing
obstructions.

‘We
apologise
to
passengers
that
there
are
no
train
services
between
Stafford
and
Stoke
while
complex
repairs
to
our
overhead
line
equipment
are
made
on
this
critical
part
of
the
West
Coast
Main
Line.’