Network Rail is advising passengers of major disruption this morning due to severe flooding at Northampton station.
The River Nene has burst its banks, causing flooding to the railway and local area.
All trains are suspended through Northampton station this morning, and Network Rail is working with London Northwestern Railway and Avanti West Coast to run a reduced service, with trains diverting away from Northampton.
Network Rail says that the flooding is expected to cause significant disruption all day whilst engineers monitor water levels and check for damage.
No rail replacement bus services can run at present due to local road conditions.
“We’re very sorry to passengers disrupted by flooding in Northampton, which will mean major disruption on the West Coast Main Line today.
“While our teams monitor water levels and wait until it’s safe to fully assess the extent of flood damage to the railway, we’re urging passengers to check with National Rail Enquiries before travelling.”
Carole Bayliss, strategy director for Network Rail’s West Coast South route
Responses
My wife is a critic of the railways, mostly because every time I go for a service it is either cancelled or delayed. She used the tram on Saturday and commented how the railway to Rochdale closed, while the Metro remained open. It is hard to defend that after nearly 200 years of railways, we are still so badly affected by severe weather, oh and not so severe.
Is the problem more that the weather is getting worse now and the railways were not designed to cope with this.
Richard L, I agree with you but the great unanswered debate is – what caused the weather to change.?