Early on Monday (3 November), an express passenger train derailed at Shap, the highest point on the West Coast Main Line in England. It has blocked Europe’s busiest mixed traffic route. Passenger and freight services have been stopped, including intermodal and bulk loads between Scotland and England.
News of the incident came through at around 06:30 in the morning. Initial reports said that both tracks were blocked by the incident, with disruption expected throughout Monday. However, that was soon revised to the whole week. The accident means that both the West and the East Coast Main Lines are currently disrupted by incidents.
The West Coast Main Line derailment was upgraded to a “Major Incident” at 08:00. The first southbound passenger service of the day, the 0428 express from Glasgow Central to London Euston, derailed at Shap, the highest point on the English railway network. The location was recently in the news for a reactivated rail connection to a local quarry. There are disruptions to both passenger and freight services.
Cross border commerce disrupted
The official National Rail Enquiries service issued a statement, with instructions to would-be passengers, encouraging them to avoid travel or to re-route via the East Coast. However, there is still some disruption on that route (north from London King’s Cross) where a train is detained in Huntingdon station – after a security incident on Saturday, which is still under investigation.
The West Coast Main Line is well known as a vital passenger route, connecting many of the populous cities in Great Britain. However, it is a very busy freight route, conveying services, typically intermodal and bulk workings, along its whole 400-mile (640km) length. The incident occurred at Shap, near a recently reconnected quarry. A landslide following adverse weather likely caused the derailment, says Network Rail, the national infrastructure agency. Images show the front of the derailed train badly damaged and covered in mud.
Disruption on the UK’s busiest mixed-use railway
The derailment occurred on the West Coast Main Line, the UK’s busiest mixed-use railway, which carries the bulk of passenger and freight traffic between London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow. Disruption on this route typically affects tens of thousands of journeys and major north–south rail freight flows. The WCML, which was built over an extended period in the nineteenth century, is often questioned over its suitability for twenty-first-century traffic demands. The line is due to be closed early next year for a bridge replacement not far south of Monday’s accident location.
Freight issues
UK Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander issued a statement on Monday morning but overlooked to address the implications for flight traffic.
Although the northern section of the route is not the busiest part of the West Coast Main Line, it is still heavily trafficked. Freight services use the route, particularly for high-speed intermodal services. As these are generally electrically hauled, the options are limited for diversion. The obvious alternative, the Settle and Carlisle line, which runs parallel to the WCML, is not electrified and is subject to capacity constraints.
Earlier this year, a quarry at Shap was reconnected to the railway network to help serve a contract to supply aggregates to projects in Liverpool. The West Coast Main Line is 400 miles (640 kilometres) long between London Euston and Glasgow Central, with several branch lines to major cities, including Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh.
Additional reporting by Esther Geerts and Thomas Wintle at our sister service RailTech.com.