More rail chaos after derailment

COMMUTERS have been warned trains could be cancelled until Monday after a derailment.

It comes after a freight train derailed on Wednesday, September 12, effectively shutting down Coleshill Parkway Railway Station.

All lines were blocked as a result of the derailment, and trains are still unable to travel along the line .

It was initially believed that trains might be back up and running by the weekend, but train operator CrossCountry, who run services along the line between Nuneaton and Birmingham, have warned that it could be out of commission until Monday.

Shortly before 3pm on September 12, a 32-wagon freight train departed Coleshill freight depot travelling south.

However, as it reached Whitacre Junction, in between Coleshill Parkway and Nuneaton, seven wagons derailed, with four ending up on their side.

Thankfully, the driver was uninjured.

The cargo, which has confirmed to be nontoxic, remained contained inside the wagons.

British Transport Police and West Midlands Fire Service attended the scene, and were joined by investigators from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch, who have been gathering evidence.

There are two main reasons why the section of track has remained closed, and into the weekend and beyond.

Firstly, the track has suffered severe damage as a result of the derailment.

It will need to be repaired and inspected.

But first, the train will need to be moved, a mammoth task in itself.

Network Rail have confirmed that specialist equipment, including a crane are having to be brought in, to remove the stricken train.

Since the incident took place, no trains have been able to call at Coleshill Parkway.

Unfortunately, Coleshill is located on the line which runs between Birmingham New Street and Stanstead Airport with Nuneaton also on this line.

Trains between Birmingham and Stanstead are running - rerouting via Derby and Loughborough, albeit on a heavily delayed timetable.

With no trains running between Birmingham and Nuneaton, passengers are having to take replacement buses to Birmingham International from Nuneaton, via Coleshill, before continuing their journeys from there.

A shuttle service has also been running between Leicester and Nuneaton.

No official timescale has been given for the line to reopen, but a CrossCountry media team member told CoventryLive that this could continue until Monday.

James Dean, chief operating officer for Network Rail’s London North Western route, said: “Our engineers are on site working tirelessly to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

“We would like to thank train passengers for bearing with us as we work to get services up and running again.”

CrossCountry’s commercial director, Ben Simkin, said: “We would like to apologise to our customers affected by this. Our priority has been to quickly provide alternative arrangements for people needing to travel and to ensure this information is easily available on our website. We will resume our normal service as soon as Network Rail are able to repair the tracks.”