Rail passengers are being thanked for their patience after a fire at Stevenage disabled signalling for trains on the East Coast Main Line.
A blaze beside the railway was first reported by a train driver at 12.30pm yesterday (Wednesday 9 October) with Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service putting out the flames by 2pm.
Significant damage was caused to fibre-optic cables which caused major disruption to trains in and out of London King’s Cross.
Network Rail engineers worked throughout the night to restore railway signalling with the majority of trains running on the East Coast Main Line as normal this morning.
However, teams needed longer to repair the cabling which controls signals between Gordon Hill and Stevenage.
Shortly after 2pm today (Thursday 10 October), engineers finished their work to allow that route to reopen for Thameslink and Great Northern rail services.
Passengers are still being encouraged to check National Rail Enquiries for the latest travel information as timetables return to normal.
Photos have been released today showing the damage caused to the signalling cabling and equipment and the efforts made to repair the infrastructure.
The fire caused damage to 25 individual telecommunications and signalling cables along a 20-metre-long section of railway.
Over the last 24 hours teams have raced to carry out temporary repairs to prioritise getting trains running again for passengers and freight.
Work will continue over the weekend to renew the protective casing the cables sit in – known as troughing – which was also badly damaged in the blaze.
This won’t impact train services and will be carried out to cause minimum disruption to passengers.
When that work is expected to finish on Monday, it’s estimated that more than 1,000 metres of cable will have been replaced in total.
Paul Rutter, Network Rail’s East Coast route director, said: “I’d like to thank passengers for their patience after many had really challenging journeys due to the major signalling fire in Stevenage which badly damaged fibre-optic cabling yesterday.
“Our engineers have now carried out repairs so the signalling systems are working for trains to run again on all routes. While timetables get back to normal we’d advise people to check National Rail Enquiries for the latest travel information.”
It’s not yet clear how the fire started, with investigations ongoing into the cause.
To plan journeys in advance people should visit www.nationalrail.co.uk.
Image credit: Network Rail
