Passengers urged to check journeys after landslip

Passengers travelling on the West Coast Main Line between Birmingham and London are being urged to check their journeys due to disruption caused by a landslip in Rugby.

Following the closure of one of the two tracks which connect Coventry to Rugby, both lines closed on Monday (February 12) evening to allow safe work on the landslip to continue. Lines are not due to open until the afternoon of Tuesday (February 13).

London Northwestern Railway (LNR)  services between Birmingham and London Euston will run between Birmingham-Coventry and Northampton-London Euston only, with half-hourly rail replacement transport running between Coventry and Northampton.

Customers travelling with Avanti West Coast are advised that tickets are being accepted on LNR trains on any reasonable routes, and on CrossCountry Trains between Coventry and Stafford.

Tickets will also be accepted on Chiltern Trains between Birmingham Moor Street and London Marylebone; CrossCountry Trains between Birmingham New Street and Reading and Great Western Railway trains between Reading and London Paddington.

Phil Barnes, operations director for Network Rail, said: “Network Rail engineers have been removing vegetation from the embankment to allow better assessment of the landslip near Rugby.

“A plan is now in place to remove soil before checking the track to allow services to run. To do this safely, we are closing both lines overnight on Monday (12 February) and Tuesday (13 February) morning. We are working to reopen both lines on Tuesday afternoon.

“Our team is working around the clock to get trains running again as soon as we can, and we are sorry for the disruption to journeys this is causing.

“We advise passengers to check www.nationalrail.co.uk or with their train operator for the latest travel advice.”