Rail chaos all week as train cracks probed
TRAVEL disruption is expected to continue for several days following the discovery of cracks in train carriages.
Operators were forced to take the Hitachi 800 models out of service for safety inspections.
The move was described as a ‘precautionary measure’ after more than one train was found to have suffered from the same issue.
Operators including Great Western Railway (GWR) and London North Eastern Railway (LNER) advised people not to travel yesterday.
LNER services between Edinburgh,
Newcastle, York and London have been disrupted.
The operator said it would also be unable to run trains between Edinburgh and Inverness/Aberdeen.
Scotland’s train services were at a limited capacity already due to strike action over a pay dispute.
But ScotRail last night said most of the Hitachi 800s in their fleet – which serve the Central Belt – had passed inspection.
A spokesman said: ‘The vast majority of our trains have been investigated and are absolutely fine.’
Robert Nisbet, regional director at Rail Delivery Group, told BBC Breakfast: ‘We are still expecting some disruption to carry on for a few days.
‘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 knockthese on effect for some of those timetables into next week.’
He said that the cracks – measuring millimetres – are on the ‘lifting points on the underside of the carriages used for maintenance’, adding: ‘If you don’t treat kind of issues early on then they have the potential to develop.’
The cracks were found during routine checks. On Saturday, a Hitachi Rail spokesman said: ‘We would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused to passengers and operators.’
Rail minister Chris Heaton-Harris has asked operators to deploy extra staff to help passengers complete their journeys and access refunds.
The non-ministerial Government department responsible for regulating Britain’s railways, the Office of Rail and Road, said it has begun an investigation.
‘Potential to develop’