Emergency work is underway to restore the signalling system for the West Coast Main Line, causing major disruption to service across the North West, to Scotland and London Euston.
Network Rail engineers have found that the cables carrying vital information that allows trains to move safely around the network have been cut in several locations along the track at Bamfurlong, near Wigan.
This deliberate act of vandalism is being investigated by British Transport Police and Network Rail is assisting with attempting to identify the criminals.
In the meantime, teams of engineers are working throughout the day and night to repair and test the cables. Due to the severity of the damage and the complexity of the repairs, it is likely disruption to train journeys will last into tomorrow (Thursday 21 August).
Phil James, North West route director said:
This is an appalling act of criminal vandalism and I am sorry for the disruption that passengers have faced today. Our teams are hard at work making repairs which are very complex due to the nature of this vandalism. While this work carries on, train journeys across the North West and on the West Coast Mainline will continue to be disrupted. We are working closely with the train operators to provide what service while the necessary and complicated repair continues.
