Lightning Strike Cuts West Coast Main Line to 1 Train an Hour Near Runcorn
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 28
Lightning Strike Cuts West Coast Main Line to 1 Train an Hour Near Runcorn
7 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 28
Only one train an hour is running between Crewe and Liverpool via Runcorn after a suspected lightning strike knocked signalling equipment offline at Weaver Junction, Network Rail said.
Blown fuses are being urgently repaired there, while the same storm system earlier caused delays and cancellations across parts of West, South and North Yorkshire.
Northern said routes between Leeds and Sheffield via Castleford and Barnsley, plus Carlisle-Leeds services via Sheffield, were affected; TransPennine Express later said lines between Leeds and Castleford had reopened.
More than 85,000 lightning incidents have been recorded since 13:10 BST on Tuesday, according to the Met Office, with the weather also linked to a house fire in Melton, Leicestershire, that forced evacuations but caused no casualties.
With 85,000 lightning strikes, are UK homes and railways simply waiting for disaster or actively preventing it?
As severe storms become common, is Britain's aging rail network ready for a new climate reality?
What is the true economic price of a single storm when it paralyzes a nation's critical transport links?