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Rail chaos as power lines damaged Rail chaos as power lines damaged
(about 1 hour later)
Trains were brought to a halt on one of the main rail routes into London after overhead power lines were brought down. Trains were halted on a major rail route into London when two miles of overhead power lines were brought down.
The West Coast Main Line was damaged over the track at Castlethorpe, near Milton Keynes, in Buckinghamshire. The West Coast Main Line was damaged over the track at Castlethorpe, near Milton Keynes, Bucks. It is not known if this was caused by high winds.
A Virgin Train spokesman said equipment on the roof of the train had been damaged. It is not yet known whether the incident was caused by high winds. The track has been closed for repairs and coaches are taking passengers between Northampton and Milton Keynes.
Rail services on the line, which runs through Watford Junction, were severely disrupted. Engineers hope to open two lines later although services are not expected to return to normal until later on Friday.
A spokeswoman for Network Rail said the 0939 GMT Glasgow to London Virgin train was hit at 1330 GMT. A spokeswoman for Network Rail said the 0939 GMT Glasgow to London Virgin train was the first hit by the problems at 1330 GMT.
Trains re-routed Cause investigated
The train had been brought to a standstill while an inspection of the power lines was carried out. It is not yet known whether the line has been damaged. Passengers on the affected train were taken off quickly and replacement bus services were organised.
Passengers on the affected train were taken off quickly and replacement bus services were organised, she said. She added: "Network Rail engineering teams are on site attempting to fix the problem as soon as possible. The cause is under investigation.
The difficulties meant that there were no services between Milton Keynes and Northampton, with buses being used to take passengers between the two points. "We hope to reopen two of the four lines later this evening but it is too early to estimate when services will return to normal but it is unlikely for tomorrow morning.
This affected services run by the Virgin Trains and Silverlink rail companies, with about a dozen - passenger and freight trains - having to be re-routed. "Tickets are being accepted on other train operators services - Chiltern Trains, Midland Mainline, GNER, Silverlink and Central Train.
"Network Rail would like to apologise to passengers for this disruption and can assure passengers that it is doing everything it can to repair the damage and keep delays to a minimum."