Second day of chaos on £9bn West Coast railway line

THE West Coast Main Line - just reopened with new timetables after a £9 billion rebuild - is in chaos for the second successive day.

Tens of thousands of rail commuters suffered major disruption because of two separate problems with overhead power cables and a broken rail.

Two of the four lines connecting London with the North were shut down because of "sagging" in overhead cables south of Milton Keynes, spotted by a train driver at 6am.

In the second incident a mistake by contractors working on cables in the Trent Valley area halted all services.

Trains heading to destinations north of Rugby, including Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow, were diverted adding an hour to journeys. Engineers were repairing the faults but lines remain closed during the morning peak.

A spokesman for Virgin Trains described the problems as "hugely frustrating for our passengers".

A spokesman for Network Rail said: "There is a problem with overhead cables south of Milton Keynes and we have had to close two of the four lines while our engineers repair the fault."

Of the Trent Valley incident, he said: "Our contractors Balfour Beatty were working on overhead lines north of Rugby. They damaged them and we are having to divert services while repairs take place. We apologise to passengers."

Of the third incident, he said: "A train driver reported a rough ride south of Coventry. We sent engineers and a crack in the rail was found. The rail was clamped to allow services to continue."

Meanwhile, a source close to the investigation of an incident yesterday when overhead cables became entangled with a train at Watford has blamed Network Rail. The source said: "It was a problem with the cable and fitting, and that, unfortunately for NR, is down to them."