Trains halt as 62C tracks buckle
RAIL tracks buckled and roads melted as yesterday’s record temperatures put the transport network under huge strain.
Hundreds of trains were cancelled. Network Rail posted photos of buckled lines at Vauxhall in south London and other locations as track temperatures hit 62C (144F).
It also said overhead power cables snapped due to the extreme heat near Birmingham, Carlisle and Harrow, north-west London. Network Rail and several train operators upgraded advice to ‘do not travel’ for services from London into ‘red alert’ heat areas. Some operators had to halt services completely.
Trains between London Euston and Milton Keynes were suspended following a line-side fire caused by cables coming down.
Operator Avanti also suspended services on the West Coast Main
Line. There were no services in or out of London King’s Cross.
In Cambridgeshire, the surface of the A14 at Bottisham rippled. National Highways shut the carriageway due to a tarmac ‘defect’ that caused it to rise and crack. Police said on Facebook: ‘Unfortunately, the road surface isn’t coping well in this heat.’
Drivers also reported a road melting in Stockport. One onlooker said it sounded like cars were ‘driving through water’.