Rail commuters were hit by chaotic rush hour disruption this morning as dozens of high-speed trains remained off the tracks for a third day over fears of hairline cracks.
Operators Great Western Railway (GWR) and London North Eastern Railway (LNER) were forced to withdraw 182 Hitachi 800 trains from service on Saturday for safety checks but only a handful have been returned to service.
Today customers on the western mainline were told ‘not to travel’ as there is ‘no service or an extremely limited service’ between London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads, Swansea, Penzance, Hereford and Cheltenham Spa.
LNER’s service on the East Coast Main Line, which runs between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh via Peterborough, York and Newcastle has also been reduced.
Frustrated customers shared their woes on social media with some desperately seeking answers from operators about how to get across the country.
Rail commuters were hit by chaotic rush hour disruption this morning as dozens of high-speed trains remained off the tracks for a third day over fears of hairline cracks. The cracks were discovered during tests early on Saturday on the chassis area of some Hitachi Class 800 series trains (stock photo)
Charlie Hammans, a forest preservation worker tweeted: ‘Hi all. Urgent hospital appointment tomorrow in London and stranded in Exeter. Can anyone help with a lift?’
Fintan O’Regan asked GWR how he would be able to make the unenviable journey back to London from Penzance, 280 miles away, without the usual four-hour direct route.
‘LNER had better fix these cracks in their trains before I travel,’ commented Susan McLellan, adding: ‘Engineering works have already cut my trip short by a day.’
Teacher Ben Fuller took a more light-hearted view, saying that while operators were checking the trains for safety ‘perhaps they could take a bit longer and fit seats which are actually comfortable?’
A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group said the operators were publishing the latest train timetable information on their websites.
Rail minister Chris Heaton-Harris described the ongoing disruption was ‘disappointing’ as passengers had started to return to using the train network following coronavirus restrictions.
Asked how long the trains had been running with the cracks, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘These trains are relatively new in service, so this is something that the Hitachi engineers will be looking at and reporting back to the train operating companies.
‘For us, as an industry, it’s disappointing and it’s dispiriting in a way to have this happen, because we were just starting to see passengers come back onto the network after a very difficult pandemic for the whole transport sector.’
The Department for Transport said Mr Heaton-Harris had called an urgent meeting with MPs on Sunday to keep them updated on progress, with representatives from Hitachi and the train operators also invited.
Robert Nisbet, regional director at the Railway Delivery Group, said that if the trains being inspected were found to have ‘tiny cracks’, they would need to be treated and replacement trains brought in.
Asked if he knew how long the disruption was likely to last, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘No, I can’t put an exact time on it and that is purely because we are going through the process and taking it extremely seriously.
![Great Western Railway, which runs trains to South West England and South Wales, and London North Eastern Railways, which serves the East Midlands, the North and Scotland, were worst affected [File photo]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/05/10/00/42775628-0-image-a-184_1620602618568.jpg)
Great Western Railway, which runs trains to South West England and South Wales, and London North Eastern Railways, which serves the East Midlands, the North and Scotland, were worst affected [File photo]
‘If some of these trains that are being inspected for these tiny cracks are found to have them, then obviously those cracks need to be treated, in which case replacement trains may need to be brought in to fill those places on the timetable.’
A total of 182 were taken out of service that day with a number returned to the network by yesterday after being given the all-clear.
Industry sources said it could last until at least the end of the week. Safety watchdog the Office of Rail and Road is overseeing the process.
Engineers were checking carriages at depots near London and Bristol over the weekend.
GWR, who are worst affected, had previously detected hairline cracks underneath a handful of Hitachi trains in late April.
It is thought this led to further cracks being discovered elsewhere, leading to the 182-strong fleet of Hitachi 800s being taken out of service.
The new cracks, measuring millimetres, are understood to be on the mechanism used to jack-up carriages when they are being fixed.
It is not believed they pose an immediate danger.
Hitachi trains have speeds of 125mph and came into service in 2017.
Hitachi Rail apologised on Saturday for the disruption after the cracks were spotted during routine checks, adding that by Saturday evening ‘some trains’ had been cleared to run as normal.
A spokesperson said: ‘Safety is our number one priority and as a precaution, the decision was taken to halt the entry into service of our intercity fleets pending inspection.
‘We understand the frustration caused and we would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused to passengers and operators.
‘Having been cleared for service, some trains are now running again across the network.’