Passengers face disruption as cracks found in trains
Rail services between Edinburgh and London face disruption today after cracks were discovered in some high-speed trains.
Passengers were told not to travel yesterday after all Class 800 Hitachi trains were removed from operation.
The cracks were found on part of the chassis of some trains used by several companies, during routine checks.
The UK’s rail network was thrown into chaos as key intercity lines operated by Great Western Railway and London North Eastern Railway (LNER) as well as Hull Trains and TransPennine Express services in England were affected. LNER, which operates services on the East Coast Main Line between London King’s Cross and Scotland, issued an urgent message telling people who had booked tickets: “Do not travel today.”
Passengers were told services were cancelled “due to more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time”. LNER said it was hoping checks on trains would be completed by last night, but with some disruption still possible today.
As a result, passengers’ tickets dated for yesterday were made valid for travel up to and including next weekend.
LNER said: “A number of Class 800 series Hitachi trains from several train companies have been taken out of service today for checks as a precautionary measure.
“This problem is being investigated by Hitachi and, once checked, we hope to be able to release the trains back into service as soon as possible.”
Hitachi apologised for the impact on travel.