Rail disruption set to continue next week after cracks found in trains
Travel chaos caused by safety checks after cracks were discovered in some high-speed trains is set to continue into next week, Brits have been warned.
Robert Nisbet of the Rail Delivery Group said initial inspections of 183 trains taken out of service yesterday should be completed by the end of the day.
But he warned that disruption was likely to “carry on for a few days”.
Great Western Railway and London North East Railway — the UK’s two busiest rail companies — have warned people not to travel today.
Hull Trains and Transpennine Express services were also affected.
It comes after hairline cracks were spotted on some Hitachi 800 series trains during routine inspections on Saturday.
Hitachi has apologised and said it was investigating the issue. It comes after GWR took six of the trains out of service last month after cracks were found in the suspension system.
Nisbet, whose organisation represents train operators and Network Rail, also apologised today for the disruption.
He told the BBC that rail firms were putting on as many services as possible, including rail replacement services, had relaxed ticket acceptance rules and were offering compensation for delays.
“It’s impossible for me to say exactly how long that is going to take, we are obviously going through this as quickly as possible but we don’t want to rush it,” he said.
GWR has been the worst impacted by the disruption, with cancellations to a number of long-distance services. It has said customers for long-distance journeys should not travel on Sunday.
LNER said it was experiencing “significant disruption” and advised against travel today.