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Rail chaos as trains grind to a halt on East Coast Main Line

Cancellations and delays expected until 8pm

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News, Transport

Trains ground to a halt on the East Coast Main Line on Tuesday causing delays and cancellations affecting hundreds of passengers.

Overhead wire damage at Retford saw the line blocked between that station and Doncaster from about 3.30pm. A Virgin train caught in the cables is stuck on the line.

This has affected both Grand Central services between London Kings Cross and Sunderland, and Virgin Trains East Coast between London Kings Cross and Leeds/Edinburgh.

Trains between these stations are being cancelled, diverted or subject to long delays. Virgin Trains East Coast revealed at 5pm that the line is unlikely to reopen today.

National Rail engineers are at the scene of the damage.

A statement from National Rail issued at 5.10pm explained the scale of the problem:

An overhead wire problem between Retford and Doncaster is causing disruption to journeys between Grantham and Doncaster.

Journeys between these stations will be delayed by up to 120 minutes.

Trains will be diverted or cancelled. Disruption is expected to continue until the end of the day.

Buses are now running between Retford and Doncaster.

Buses have also been requested to run between Peterborough and York, though there is currently no estimate as to when they will be made available.

There has been extensive damage caused to the overhead wires. As a result, all lines through the affected area are currently closed.

Passengers were advised to look for alternative travel options. Tickets from the affected Virgin and Grand Central trains were being accepted on other operators’ services.

The Virgin train awaiting rescue at Retford. Photograph © Jon Knight on Twitter
The Virgin train awaiting rescue at Retford. Photograph © Jon Knight on Twitter
A close up of the cable damage. Photograph: Virgin Trains East Coast on Twitter
A close up of the cable damage. Photograph: Virgin Trains East Coast on Twitter

You can see all the options on the National Rail website here.

Frustration among passengers

Many passengers tweeted out how the disruption was hampering their ability to get anywhere: