Thousands of passengers face travel chaos on Sunday after damage to overhead electric wires between Peterborough and Stevenage blocked part of the East Coast Main Line, prompting a major rail operator to issue a 'do not travel' warning. LNER told passengers not to travel today, with train cancellations and delays of up to two hours expected until the end of the day.
Services disrupted across multiple operators
The rail route is a main artery connecting Scotland, East Midlands, Yorkshire and London King's Cross. Grand Central, Great Northern, Hull Trains, LNER, Lumo and Thameslink are all affected, with services suspended or severely restricted while engineers assess the damage.
National Rail warned that the Doncaster area has become a bottleneck, and delays could spill into other parts of the network. The affected operators and routes include Grand Central between Sunderland, Bradford Interchange and Halifax and London King's Cross; Great Northern between Peterborough and London King's Cross; Hull Trains between Beverley and Hull and London King's Cross; LNER between Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Newcastle, York, Harrogate, Skipton, Bradford Forster Square, Leeds and Lincoln and London King's Cross; Lumo between Glasgow Queen Street, Edinburgh and Newcastle and London King's Cross; and Thameslink between Peterborough and London King's Cross.
Passengers report chaos at King's Cross
Stressed passengers reported huge queues at London King's Cross station as people tried to get through to the platforms. One passenger said: 'Anyone looking to travel from Kings Cross. Its chaos. No announcement.' Another dad said his 18-year-old daughter was 'stuck at London King's Cross' without help, and she was trying to travel back home for 'a big job interview' in the morning.
In a statement, National Rail said: 'Train services are currently being disrupted because overhead electric wires have been damaged and are down in the area. For the safety of customers, staff and emergency responders, train services through the affected area have been suspended or severely restricted while specialist engineers assess the damage and begin repair work.'
Repair work may take time, tickets valid for later travel
National Rail added: 'Overhead line equipment carries high-voltage electricity and extensive safety checks must be completed before any repairs can take place and train services can safely resume. Recovery and repair work can be complex and may take some time, particularly if multiple sections of equipment have been damaged. As a result, trains may be delayed, revised, cancelled or unable to operate through the affected area.'
LNER said tickets marked for today can be used tomorrow and Tuesday. Great Northern and Thameslink strongly recommend checking your journey before travelling and allowing extra time if you need to travel today. The disruption is expected to last until the end of the day, with passengers advised to check their journey before heading to the station.
