Rail chaos as power lines damaged

The Glasgow to London train was hit by cables at Castlethorpe

All Virgin Train services out of London had to be cancelled after two miles of overhead power lines were brought down in Buckinghamshire.

The West Coast Main Line was damaged over the track at Castlethorpe, near Milton Keynes.

Silverlink ran four trains an hour from Euston to Milton Keynes and buses were used to take people to Northampton.

Virgin Trains said it was then able to run trains from Northampton to the Midlands and North.

Engineers were working to open two lines later although services were 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 the first to be hit by the problems at 1330 GMT.

Tickets accepted

Passengers on the affected train were taken off quickly and replacement bus services were organised.

She added: "Network Rail engineering teams are on site attempting to fix the problem as soon as possible. The cause is under investigation.

"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.

"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."

Steven Knight, press officer for Virgin Trains, said he expected trains to be running on Friday, but there was "likely to be disruption and reduced services".

"Our message to people is to check with National Rail enquiries before starting a journey," he said.