Unrepaired power lines of Thameslink causes misery for thousands of rail commuters

Monday, July 29, 2019

Network Rail had failed to complete repairs on overhead power lines outside the London St Pancras leading to another day of disruption for thousands of rail commuters on Thameslink.

The wires got sagged on Thursday due to record high temperatures which made them susceptible to damage from train pantographs.

In several locations on the rail network wires were brought down, West Hampstaed on the East Midlands line north from St Pancras was the worst damage.

The line is shared by Thameslink commuter services which is operative from St Albans, Luton and Bedford and East Midlands Trains to Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield.

Throughout the weekend both train operators had reduced their services and expected the repair work to be completed in time for the start of services on Monday.

Network Rail commented on Sunday evening that the work has progressed far enough allowing East Midlands Trains to plan a  full and normal service on Monday and the full extent of the required works meant that disruption will carry on into the working week for Thameslink passengers.

It was discovered by the engineers working at the scene that there were previously unidentified damage to the wiring and it needed 2km of overhead line equipment to be replaced.

Rob McIntosh, managing director of Network Rail Eastern mentioned that he know how disruptive this is to their passengers and was sorry as they could not fully reopen the line. They worked as hard as they can to finish the repair work and to reduce disruption for customers.

According to the publicly owned rail infrastructure the engineers were working around the clock but problems could continue beyond Monday.

On Friday, Britain’s two biggest airline battled to get back on schedule. More than dozens of flights were cancelled as British Airways and easyJet were hit by bad weather along with an air-traffic control system failure that affected Haethrow and Gatwick.

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