Rail delays after bridge gets stuck

Anglia Railways apologised to rail travellers over delays

Rail passengers travelling to and from Norwich to London and Ely have suffered hours of disruption after a swing railway bridge broke down.

The Trowse Swing Bridge, on the edge of Norwich, opened to allow river traffic through at about 1400 BST on Saturday and could not be closed again for about two hours.

This meant mainline rail services were disrupted as the swing bridge is used by Anglia Railways trains going to and from Norwich via Ipswich and Colchester to London.

Also hit were Central Trains services between Norwich, and Ely and Peterborough.

'Compensation available'

Jonathan Denby, corporate affairs director of Anglia Railways, apologised to rail travellers for any disruption caused.

"Delays ranged from an hour and two hours," he said.

"Clearly as always compensation will be available."

He said the company would be talking to Network Rail, which operates the bridge, to ensure "such a problem does not occur in future".

Mr Denby said at present there was no explanation as to why the bridge, which spans the River Wensum, had broken down.

"Delays ranged from an hour and two hours," he said.

He said bridge closed and the train service was back to normal at about 1600 BST.

A spokeswoman for Network Rail said the cause of the problem with the bridge was being investigated.

She said a mechanism in the bridge stuck at about 1420 BST when engineers were called.