Passengers are being thanked for their understanding after flooding caused by heavy rainfall affected rail services on New Year’s Day.
Railway workers have been attending sites across the region to repair damage at locations that were hit by extremely wet weather.
Network Rail’s North West route received 45 flood alerts from the Environment Agency on New Year’s Day.
Operators TransPennine Express and Northern advised customers not to travel as so many routes were blocked by the volume of water on the tracks.
Greater Manchester, where a major incident has been declared by emergency services, and the Warrington area were significantly impacted by unprecedented levels of flooding, with the railway submerged under several centimetres of water in some locations.
Chris Pye, Network Rail’s North West route infrastructure director, said: “Over the New Year, we have seen flooding in a number of unexpected locations. In the North of England, we are no strangers to wet weather, and we spend millions of pounds a year improving drainage at our most at-risk sites.
“The flooding seen in Greater Manchester and Warrington on New Year’s Day is highly unusual. I’d like to thank passengers for their patience. Teams have been on site to do as much as they can to drain the water away and repair any damage to the line. We’re confident that we will be able to run a good service tomorrow, but I’d advise passengers to check their specific journey before they travel tomorrow.”
In recent years, Network Rail has improved the drainage at several known problem sites such as Tebay, (Cumbria), Sutton Weaver, and Macclesfield (Cheshire). These areas were able to handle the rainfall and were not flooded.
Railway workers have been on site in Mobberley, Cheshire, where the ballast (railway stones) which supports the track was washed away by the water. 60 tonnes of ballast is being replaced overnight in order to reinstate services between Northwich and Stockport.
Flooding in Culcheth, Warrington, has subsided enough for teams to make repairs to the tracks, meaning services between Manchester and Liverpool will be able to run again.
Passengers travelling on the southern Liverpool route to Manchester (via Warrington Central) should check before they travel, as water is being pumped away overnight near Warrington West station.
Passengers travelling from areas in the West and South West of Greater Manchester should check before they travel.
Image credit: Network Rail
