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Rail disruption goes on after tree hit power lines

Susie RackWest Midlands
News imageNetwork Rail A green and cream train pictured at night, with wires tangled on its roof. The train lights are on and a passenger can just be seen sitting inside.Network Rail
Network Rail said extreme weather conditions on Tuesday caused the tree to fall at Penkridge

Rail passengers face a third day of disruption between Birmingham and Stafford after a tree came down in strong winds and damaged overhead cables.

The tree came down on the tracks at Penkridge, Staffordshire about 20:20 GMT on Tuesday, leading 45 passengers to be evacuated from a London Northwestern Railway service.

Trains were delayed, cancelled and diverted on Wednesday, with National Rail (NR) reporting "significant damage" to electric wires.

The network has now confirmed that said disruption was expected to continue until at least 12:30 GMT, with buses replacing trains between Stafford, Penkridge and Wolverhampton.

The disruption has affected passengers on Avanti West Coast, Caledonian Sleeper, CrossCountry and London Northwestern Railway services, with passengers travelling to and from Birmingham, Shrewsbury and Crewe also faced with delays.

An amended timetable is in place to allow services to continue to run, NR said, advising customers to check before they travel.

"Your journey may be cancelled or revised to terminate or start at different stations. Trains that are scheduled to run from different stations may be delayed," passengers were advised.

NR said the tree had come down at Penkridge in "extreme weather conditions" and engineers were "working hard" to repair the damage.

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