Rail disruption comes to an end

RAIL services in East Anglia were expected to be back to normal today after weekend disruption caused by engineering work.

And bosses at rail operator 'one' were hopeful there would be no problems as a result of Network Rail having to check points across the country's railways after Friday's disaster in Cumbria.

Initial investigations suggest that the high-speed London to Glasgow express could have left the track after passing over a set of points where bolts had become loose.

That has prompted Network Rail, which owns and operates the nation's railway tracks and signals, to start an urgent programme of checking 700 points, similar to those in Cumbria, across the country.

However Jonathan Denby from 'one' did not expect this to have much impact on passengers in this region.

He said: “This is not a scenario like we had after Hatfield when all track had to be carefully checked and much of it replaced.

“It is relatively quick and simple to check the points. It doesn't take anywhere near as long and that should be undertaken as part of routine maintenance checks.

“We have heard nothing about this causing any delays or inconvenience for passengers.”

People travelling to both London and Norwich by train at the weekend were confronted by disruption at both ends of their journey.

The lines between Diss and Norwich and the section between Shenfield and Ilford were closed for engineering work and passengers were taken by bus between these stations.

And there was overnight work between Ipswich and Manningtree which over-ran causing some delays to Sunday morning services.

Mr Denby said: “That was an irritation, but it had nothing to do with checks following the Cumbria disaster and trains were operating normally by mid-morning on Sunday.”

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