RAIL services between Ipswich and Norwich were getting back to normal today after nearly 24 hours of disruption after overhead wires were brought down in the Claydon area.

RAIL services between Ipswich and Norwich were getting back to normal today after nearly 24 hours of disruption caused when overhead wires were brought down in the Claydon area.

A long stretch of overhead cable was brought down yesterday lunchtime. A substitute bus service was introduced between Ipswich and Stowmarket.

Trains travelling in both directions were affected by the problem and engineers worked overnight to clear the damage.

By this morning's rush-hour most services were back to normal although there was still some disruption because trains were not in the right place to form their services.

Peter Meades, from rail operator 'one', said: “By late morning everything should be back to normal. This was a very serious incident involving a significant length of overhead wire.”

Engineers from Network Rail were investigating the damage to see what had caused the problem but it is not thought to be related in any way to the problems they faced in Essex at the start of September.

Mr Meades said the wires north of Colchester were much newer than those in south Essex - they date from the mid 1980s rather than the mid 1940s - and had not caused serious problems in the past.

He said: “There are three possible causes for the damage - a problem with the wire, a problem with the train which caused it to come down, or an external factor such as vandalism. At present there is no indication of what it might be.”

The worst affected train yesterday was the 11am from London, which was carrying Conservative leader David Cameron.

Mr Meades said: “We apologise to everyone who was inconvenienced, especially those on the 11am train. That was the first to be stopped after the problem happened, and it was not immediately clear whether there was space on the line to take it to Ipswich.

“We do try to keep our passengers fully informed but at the time this train should have been leaving Colchester the situation further up the line was very confused.

“Passengers on later trains were aware of the situation and we were able to find enough coaches to take our passengers from Ipswich to Diss.”

WEBLINK

www.one-railway.com