National Rail reveals when ‘nationwide fault’ across the UK will be fixed

LNER is asking passengers travelling to or from Leeds and Wakefield Westgate to put off travelling today if they can.

This is because of the serious damage done to overhead cables when a tree was blown over yesterday evening.

National Rail said: ‘Tickets for travel dated Thursday December 5 and Friday December 6 will be valid for use up to and including Saturday December 7.’

The M6 has one of three lanes closed southbound after a vehicle broke down.

The closure is located between junctions 11 and 10 for Wolverhampton.

Drivers are facing 40-minute delays on top of usual traffic conditions.

A broken down vehicle has caused a westbound lane to be closed on the M62 between J12 and J11.

This is causing congestion west of Manchester, which is expected to last until after 2pm.

Drivers are facing half-hour delays on the A12 northbound after a collision near Colchester.

The crash is causing congestion between J22 and J24, which is expected to clear after 2pm.

Travel have stopped running between the Durham towns of Darlington and Bishop Auckland due to a points failure.

All trains running between these stations have been cancelled, with road transport requested as a replacement.

This is expected to continue until 4.30pm.

Good service has resumed on the Metropolitan line, Mildmay (Overground) and Elizabeth line after earlier delays.

But there is still no service on the Piccadilly line between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge, with severe delays on the rest of the line, due to poor rail conditions caused by leaf fall.

TfL urges passengers to instead use the Metropolitan line.

A toppled tree damaged overhead wires yesterday, causing major disruption on routes between Leeds and Wakefield Westgate in West Yorkshire.

Lines towards London have reopened after the tree was removed and some overhead wires were repaired.

But lines towards York remain closed until further safety checks are complete.

This means major disruption – including cancellations, diversions and 60-minute delays – is expected to last until the end of the day.

Which lines are affected?

• CrossCountry between Edinburgh and Birmingham New Street / Bristol Temple Meads / Plymouth, and between Leeds and Plymouth, and also between Newcastle and Reading
• LNER between Skipton / Bradford Forster Square / Harrogate / Leeds and London Kings Cross
• Northern between Leeds and Knottingley / Doncaster / Sheffield

If your train is delayed or cancelled and you choose not to travel, your unused ticket can be refunded.

If you are travelling and arrive late at your destination due to a cancelled or delayed service, you may be able to claim compensation. You will need to request compensation directly from your train company.

Compensation will depend on:

• which train company you travelled with – different companies have different schemes, but they all offer compensation
• the type of ticket you have – for example, compensation for a single Day ticket is calculated differently than that for a 7-Day Season ticket
• the length of the delay in arriving at your destination – each train company has its own compensation threshold. For example, if you are delayed by over an hour, you will generally receive more compensation than if you were delayed by 15 to 30 minutes

Claims can be made online, or by post using a form that you can download from a train company website or get from a staffed station.

You could also submit your claim through the nationwide Delay Repay scheme.

This morning’s rail chaos has been caused due to a fault with the radio system which drivers and signallers used to communicate with each other.

GSMR allows drivers and signallers to talk to each other even when trains are in deep tunnels, where ordinary radio waves and WiFi signals can’t reach.

It allows signallers to quickly broadcast warnings and messages to drivers, meaning delays can be avoided when issues arise.

It was rolled out to increase safety and reduce costs by replacing inefficient old systems which were expensive to maintain.

Network Rail says 15,000km of railway lines are now covered by GSMR and that around 21,000 drivers and signallers are trained to use the system.

It was installed across the network between 2007 and 2014 at a cost of £1.86billion.

Network Rail says a fix is underway after the fault with the GSMR system was traced back to one of its major hubs near Stoke.

Here’s the latest situation on the Tube and Overground:

• Metropolitan line: Severe delays between Harrow-on-the-Hill and Aldgate. Minor delays on the rest of the line due to an earlier signalling problem at Harrow-on-the-Hill
• Mildmay (Overground): Severe delays between Stratford and Richmond / Clapham Junction due to a National Rail track fault at Gospel Oak. Good service on all other London Overground lines.
• Piccadilly line: No service between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge due to difficult track conditions caused by significant leaf fall. Please use the Metropolitan line to complete your journey. Minor delays on the rest of the line due to a shortage of trains
• Elizabeth line: Minor delays between Whitechapel and Shenfield due to faulty track at Forest Gate. Good service on the rest of the line

It’s pretty rare that you see busy central London stations like Victoria this empty – especially on a Friday.

Nigel Harris, a railway journalist who has been working in the industry for four decades, says he’s never experienced an issue like this.

Speaking to Sky News he said the communication fault which has hit the system this morning is ‘very, very rare’.

He said technical problems, or even an attack on the network by hackers, could be responsible, adding: ‘We just don’t know.

‘It can take a few seconds to reboot something, or it can cause chaos for a long time.

‘The tone of the communication from Network Rail seems fairly optimistic, so I would hope that by lunchtime we can get the system back.’

There was a broken rail in the Gospel Oak area which has impacted London Overground trains between Stratford and Willesden Junction / Richmond / Clapham Junction.

Trains are able to run again, but while the normal timetable is reinstated National Rail warns services could be ‘severely disrupted’.

The following reduced service will operate between Willesden Junction and Clapham Junction / Richmond:

• 3 trains will run per hour between Willesden Junction and Clapham Junction
• 2 trains will run per hour between Willesden Junction and Richmond

You can use your ticket on local buses via any reasonable route.

There’s been a signal fault between Aberystwyth and Machynlleth which is disruption Transport for Wales trains which run between the two stations.

Services are facing 20-minute delays or cancellations, and rail replacement buses have been requested.

There’s been flooding between Hooton and Chester, which is blocking all lines on Chester circular services.

Trains between these stations could be cancelled or face half-hour delays.

You may use your ticket on Transport for Wales services between Liverpool Lime Street and Chester.

It’s a rough morning out there for train drivers and signalling staff, after a fault with the radio system meant trains couldn’t run to and from Moorgate.

This is separate to the widespread radio problems we’ve been seeing across the country, and the issue has now been fixed, but trains could still be cancelled or delayed while service recovers.

Great Northern trains are now able to run to and from Moorgate, although some might still divert to Kings Cross.

Tickets will be accepted for no extra cost on the following alternatives:

• Great Northern services to / from London Kings Cross
• Thameslink services to / from London St Pancras International, Farringdon, City Thameslink, London Blackfriars and London Bridge
• London Underground via any reasonable route
• London Buses between Finsbury Park and Moorgate

There were some overrunning engineering works between Winchester and Basingstoke earlier this morning, blocking all lines towards Woking.

Those lines have reopened now, but while service recovers passengers are still experiencing delays and cancellations.

The disruption to CrossCountry and South Western Railway services between these two stations is expected to last until at least midday.

A tree fell onto the railway in the Outwood area yesterday evening and damaged the overhead wires between Leeds and Wakefield Westgate.

The tree has been removed and some repairs have already been made, but more safety checks are needed before lines can fully reopen.

Right now, trains are simply ‘coasting’ through the area instead of travelling at full speed.

National Rail say there’s currently no estimate of when the lines will be able to reopen, and the disruption is set to last until the end of the day.

Passengers are facing hour-long delays, cancellations and diversions.

It’s affecting the following services:

• CrossCountry between Edinburgh and Birmingham New Street / Bristol Temple Meads / Plymouth
• CrossCountry between Leeds and Plymouth
• CrossCountry between Newcastle and Reading
• LNER between Skipton / Bradford Forster Square / Harrogate / Leeds and London Kings Cross
• Northern between Leeds and Knottingley / Doncaster / Sheffield