Rail passengers face widespread train cancellations and delayed journeys as operators prepare for expected extreme temperatures.
Dozens of early long-distance trains were axed on Monday morning – with the unprecedented closure of a key inter-city line set for Tuesday.
Passengers in England and Wales are being warned not to travel unless absolutely necessary. With many services cancelled, travellers who do attempts journeys are warned to expect crowded and delayed trains.
At the neighbouring stations of King’s Cross and St Pancras International in central London, some departures on the East Coast main line to Leeds and York were cancelled as LNER – the main train operator to Yorkshire, Tyneside and Scotland – thinned out services.
On Tuesday afternoon and early evening, no trains will run at all.
LNER’s managing director David Horne, tweeted: “The rail industry has taken the very difficult decision to close the East Coast main line between York/Leeds and London on Tuesday 19 July when temperatures are due to peak at 39C.
“I’m sorry if this will disrupt your journey plans but the safety of everyone must come first.”
Lumo, the rival train operator between London and Edinburgh, is running some services only between Newcastle and the Scottish capital. Grand Central, which links Wearside and West Yorkshire with King’s Cross, says: “Only a couple of our services are running in each direction.”
Passengers with tickets for travel on Monday or Tuesday can use their tickets later in the week or claim a full refund.
At St Pancras International, East Midlands Railway has cancelled at least half of its inter-city links from Sheffield, Derby, Nottingham and Leicester to London St Pancras. The first arrival from Sheffield ran 15 minutes late due to speed restrictions.
Early international trains to and from Paris on Eurostar were delayed by an hour due to overhead power supply problems near the French capital. The Channel Tunnel train operator says, despite the heat: “Eurostar trains are currently expected to operate as normal.”
In extreme heat, steel rails are susceptible to buckling. To reduce the stress on the rails, the normal running speed of 125mph is reduced to 90mph or 60mph, with some stretches – typically in sheltered, south facing, “sun trap” locations – as slow as 20mph.
Avanti West Coast is cancelling many trains from Birmingham and Manchester to London.
GWR is halving frequencies from London Paddington to Cardiff and Bristol.
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