UK Rail Faces More New Year Service Chaos

Disruption to UK commuter services is set to continue into the weekend after crucial New Year engineering works failed to finish on time.

The news comes after a third day of disruption following rail company Network Rail's failure to complete two vital pieces of engineering works on the West Coast Main Line.

Work on overhead electrical lines on the route between Rugby and Warwickshire had been due to finish on Monday 31 December but Network Rail did not have enough engineers to meet the deadline, writes The Guardian newspaper.

Thousands of passengers have experienced delays of two hours or more as they were forced to take coaches or alternative rail routes between Birmingham and Northampton.

Rail operator Virgin Trains has renewed its advice to passengers to avoid the route.

The disruption is set to continue into 2008 as the West Coast Main Line becomes the focal point for engineering projects over the Easter holiday period.

The company posted an apology on its website today and said it would be carefully reviewing its Easter schedule in light of the current situation.

"There will be major works at Easter but in the light of what we have learnt from the problems at Christmas, we will be carefully reviewing our Easter schedule to make sure it is realistic and deliverable," a spokesman for Network Rail told The Times newspaper.

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) announced "an urgent investigation" into the engineering overruns with Network Rail facing heavy fines for failing to complete work on time.

By staff writer