A signal points fault at Euston station in London led to the complete shutdown of all lines, resulting in major travel disruption. While the problem was rectified after its discovery at 10:40 BST, National Rail has advised travellers to expect delays of as much as 90 minutes and cancellations, with consequential disruption anticipated until 15:30 BST.
A Network Rail spokesperson has issued an apology to customers, stating that engineers were working on repairs to a fault detected within the signalling system in the region. Avanti West Coast and London Northwestern Railway have validated tickets affected by the issue on some other train services. Ticket acknowledgement had also been negotiated with East Midlands Railway and Thameslink between Bedford and Wellingborough to help passengers travelling to or from London St Pancras International.
Journalist Alex Smith with BBC, who was present at the station, quoted several staff members who stated that they did not know which trains were arriving between platforms one and seven, and where they were travelling to, triggering several last-minute sprints for trains as they were announced.
The Network Rail chief executive, Andrew Haines, had confirmed in a recent interview that the national train provider would aim to modernize signalling system reconfiguration by the end of the year to ensure fewer service interruptions. As per reports, the network’s safety database for the first three months of this year revealed no SPAD accidents (signals passed at danger), a five-year low. Last year, SPAD events rose to 465, and 429 disjointed taxis rips had also been reported, in spite of the railway’s far reduced timetables due to travel limitations A Network Rail spokesperson had mentioned earlier this year about reports of SPADs and incidents of collision risk between trains emerging when trains interacted with sections of track where signals were being remotely reconfigured or fixed
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