Timetable is in chaos as ‘cracks’ are investigated
THE West’s railway system has been thrown into chaos as GWR’s high-tech fleet of trains have been temporarily removed from service while safety checks are undertaken.
It means that direct rail services from Bristol, Cheltenham, Swindon, Bath and Hereford to London have been suspended.
The Hitachi 800 trains were pulled from lines on Saturday as a “precautionary measure” after the fault was found in some trains, and Great Western Railway (GWR) and London North Eastern Railway (LNER) advised people not to travel throughout the weekend.
But the problem will essentially mean there are no direct rail services from most of the West to the capital today, with disruption likely to persist throughout the week.
In a statement last night GWR said: “A number of class 800 Hitachi trains have been withdrawn from service for precautionary safety checks.
“As a result a significant number of long-distance servies will be cancelled on Monday and disruption is expected to continue into the following week.
“Customers with tickets for long distance services are advised not to travel.
“While local services are running, we expect them to be very busy.
“Rail replacement services are extremely limited.”
It added that Avanti West Coast and West Midlands Railway are taking GWR passengers via any ‘reasonable route’, implying some passengers desperate to get to London from the West may go via Birmingham to do so.
In a statement, rail minister Chris Heaton-Harris said: “Today I have directed the rail industry to urgently set out a comprehensive plan to ensure services can safely resume as soon as possible.
“I expect operators to explore all options for replacement services to help people complete their journeys, and have asked Hitachi for a safety inspection plan, as well as longer term repair strategy.
“Our focus is to ensure trains are returned to service as quickly as possible, once they are fully approved as safe. Only then can we start to rebuild a reliable and punctual timetable for passengers.
“I also want to thank passengers for their patience during what could be a significant period of prolonged disruption, likely to continue for some time.”
This comes after the Rail Delivery Group warned the disruption could last for days.
Robert Nisbet, regional director at the body, told the BBC: “With the inspections completed initially by the end of today, we are still expecting some disruption to carry on for a few days. It’s impossible for me to say exactly how long that is going to take, but we are obviously going through this as quickly as possible, but we don’t want to rush it.
“We want to ensure that all of those trains are thoroughly inspected and cleared and put into service when things are ready, but there may well be a knock-on effect for some of those timetables into next week.”
He said the cracks – measuring millimetres – are on the “lifting points on the underside of the carriages used for maintenance”.
Mr Nisbet said: “It’s fair to say this didn’t pose any particular danger to passengers that were travelling on those trains but if you don’t treat these kind of issues early on then they have the potential to develop.”
Hitachi Rail apologised on Saturday for the disruption after the cracks were spotted during routine checks.
A spokesperson said: “Safety is our number one priority and as a precaution, the decision was taken to halt the entry into service of our intercity fleets pending inspection.”
GWR’s £5.7 billion fleet of Hitachi trains only came into service in September 2018.
Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association, said passengers should not be charged extra in future to pay for repairs.
He said: “It’s important to point out that the affected trains are relatively new, in which case the manufacturers should foot the bill for any repairs, not passengers or taxpayers.”