Merseyrail passengers have been hit with more travel disruption after a signal issue and fire today.
Passengers travelling on a number of lines across the network have been facing timetable changes from this week onwards. The change came an increase in wheel bearing faults led to services being cancelled on the Kirkby and New Brighton lines. A rail replacement bus was in place last week for the lines before trains resumed this morning.
However usual services are still not back on track. Trains are now running every 30 minutes on the Ormskirk, Kirkby, Hunts Cross, New Brighton, West Kirby, Chester and Ellesmere Port lines, due to the train fault.
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Trains should have still run every 15 minutes between Southport and Liverpool Central, however today, on Monday, June 13, a track-side fire caused troubles. A fire at Waterloo caused services to stop for some time, between 11am and 1pm, with trains running delayed or subject to change after the fire wat put out.
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service confirmed one engine was sent to the station, at around 11.50am and put out a f ire on the embankment close to the railway line. Once power to the lines and trains had been stopped, crews used a high pressure hose reel jet to extinguish the fire.
Unrelated to this incident, there were more issues on the Chester line. Signalling problems at Capenhurst caused services to terminated and started back from Hooton. A rail replacement bus has been put in place between Chester and Hooton in both directions until further notice.
Network Rail Engineers at the site advised Merseyrail that they will be working to fix the issue for a 'number of hours.'
The managing director of Merseyrail has previously issued an apology for the disruption commuters have faced due to faults with their trains. Andy Heath said he was “truly, truly sorry” for the inconvenience caused by changes to the timetables on Merseyrail lines as the operator announced an “unexpected” increase in wear on train wheel bearings.
In a video posted on Twitter, Mr Heath said: “I’d like to offer my sincere apologies to our passengers for the disruption that the unexpected and significant increase in wheel bearing faults on our trains is causing. We know that the further changes to our timetable that we’re announcing will add inconvenience and delay into the journeys for people of the city region and for that we are truly, truly sorry. I’d also like to reassure our passengers that we are working closely with our partners and industry experts to resolve this issue, with progress being monitored daily."
"As soon as it will be possible, we will return to our normal, reliable 15-minute timetable. While this work is taking place, everyone at Merseyrail is 100% committed to providing the best possible service to ensure that we keep the people of the Liverpool City Region moving."
