Major rail disruption around Birmingham New Street after wires damaged

Train passengers are facing major disruption across the country after damaged electric wires led to lines being blocked in and out of Birmingham New Street.

The station is the busiest railway station outside of London and the damage was affecting services for many operators, National Rail said.

The incident was first reported just before 14:00 BST on Wednesday and the disruption was expected to last until the end of the day.

Train services running from or through New Street to cities including London, Manchester, Glasgow and Cardiff were among those affected, as well as many services within the West Midlands.

Passengers were warned their trains could be cancelled, delayed by up to two hours or not run for their full route.

Those arriving at Birmingham New Street at about 16:30 BST were confronted with electronic departure boards warning of severe disruption.

At Wolverhampton’s railway station, a BBC reporter said all the signs warned of delays.

Nick Cosgriff, a passenger at Derby’s station told the BBC that trains travelling to New Street from the north of the country were terminating at Derby instead, with trains arriving “every few minutes or so”, resulting in large crowds.

He said there were hundreds of stranded rail passengers were waiting in Derby for promised replacement coaches to arrive.

“Throughout the late afternoon the crowds grew larger, as further trains arrived, decanting more passengers at Derby,” he said.

The wires were damaged between New Street and Water Orton in Warwickshire, according to post on X by Transport for West Midlands.

A spokesperson for Network Rail said that at 13:40 BST “damaged overhead power lines were reported on the approach to Birmingham New Street station, near to Curzon Street”.

A post on Network Rail’s New Street X account, with a photo of the damage, showed loose cables hanging from a metal gantry and the spokesperson said repairs would be carried out overnight.

On some affected lines, passengers could use their train tickets on other routes, while on other lines, replacement buses were being used or had been requested, National Rail said.

By about 16:10 BST, they added that some lines had reopened following the damage to the wires but urged passengers to check before they travelled.