Thousands delayed on West coast main line

Thousands of rail passengers were subjected to delays yesterday after services on the west coast main line between London Euston and Scotland were suspended.

A power line came down near Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, early yesterday, shutting four of the lines operated by Silverlink and Virgin Trains.

Three were later opened but the service was hampered by a broken-down train on the stretch of track where power had been cut. Virgin and Silverlink said they did not expect normal services to resume until repairs are completed this morning.

Disruption began when the 25,000-volt cable came down and struck the 5.38am Silverlink service from Northampton to Euston. Virgin services from London to Scotland were severely hit. The company's 10 trains per hour into and out of London were stopped and Silverlink local services were also disrupted.

Virgin organised a shuttle service between Euston and Watford and an emergency fleet of busses took passengers on to Milton Keynes or Bletchley where train services from the North were terminating. Silverlink used a fleet of 15 buses to ferry passengers.