A woman in walks past an advertising hoarding promoting Britain’s 225 m.p.h HS2 High speed rail link outside the Curzon Street Station terminus in Birmingham. The Birmingham to Manchester leg of the $85 billion project was canceled in October 2023, partly due to the spiralling cost amid plans to divert the money saved to upgrading rail infrastructure between the major cities of northern England. Photo by EPA
Feb. 7 (UPI) — Commuters and travelers in the northwest of England were hit with major travel disruption Friday after a car plunged from a bridge onto the main rail line between Manchester and Liverpool, one of the busiest routes in the country.
The BMW sedan smashed through a concrete barrier in the Manchester suburb of Salford in the west of the city in the early hours and brought down overhead electric lines as it fell 25 feet, ending upside down on the tracks.
No trains were passing at the time but authorities immediately closed the line in both directions.
The driver, a man in his 30s who was treated in the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, has been arrested by police on suspicion of DUI.
The wreck has been recovered from the tracks but Network Rail, which is responsible for tracks, signaling and all rail infrastructure, said it would take all day to repair the damage and it did not expect train services to resume before 10 p.m. local time at the earliest.
The outage hit trains operated by Northern Rail, Transpennine Express and Transport for Wales serving major cities across the north and Wales, the company said, with customers facing lengthy delays to their journeys, either through having to take circuitous routes to their destinations or traveling by road on replacement bus services.
The disruption also hit air travel, badly affecting trains serving Marchester Airport, the country’s third busiest airport after London Heathrow and London Gatwick.
Northern Rail services from Liverpool Lime Street Station to Manchester Airport and between Wigan North Western and Manchester Victoria Station were canceled as well as between Chester-Manchester Victoria-Leeds, according to National Rail.
TransPennine Express services said no trains would run between Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Victoria until the end of the day, with onward services to Hull, Liverpool Lime Street to Newcastle via Manchester Victoria and between Lancaster and Manchester Airport also affected.
Long distance services were rerouted to start or end at Manchester Victoria.
Transport for Wales said its services between Wales, Chester and Manchester stations would not run between Newton-le-Willows and Manchester.
TFW trains between Llandudno, Chester, Manchester Airport and Manchester Oxford Road Station were also canceled, along with along with trains connecting Manchester Airport to the Port of Holyhead where ferry services depart to Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic.
Network Rail apologized to rail passengers impacted by the travel chaos caused by the incident, urging “anyone planning to travel by train between Liverpool and Manchester to plan ahead and check with their train operator for the latest travel information.”
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