Lightning strike causes disruption on railway line

A suspected lightning strike has caused disruption on a major railway line.

Overnight thunderstorms have damaged signalling systems on the West Coast Main Line at Weaver Junction near Runcorn, Network Rail said.

It happened where the railway line connects to Liverpool and the North Wales coast and passengers have been warned of reduced, delayed or cancelled services.

Network Rail said teams were urgently fixing blown fuses in the equipment after the systems went offline early this morning.

Only one train an hour is currently running between Crewe and Liverpool, calling at Runcorn and Liverpool South Parkway, Network Rail said.

Anyone travelling on Thursday is urged to check National Rail Enquiries.

Ticket acceptance is in place with Northern and Transpennine Express between South Parkway and Lime Street, Avanti West Coast between Crewe and Liverpool and Merseyrail between Liverpool South Parkway and Liverpool Central.

Chris Wright, Network Rail North West route director, said: "We're sorry to passengers affected by this disruption caused by the stormy conditions overnight.

"Our specialist signalling and telecoms teams are working as fast as possible to fix the faults and get the railway fully back up and running."

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