'Do not travel' message extends to second day as heatwave continues

Rail leaders in the East Midlands are warning that passengers will not be able to travel for significant parts of the day today (Tuesday) due to forecast temperatures.
Train travel ban extended to Tuesday.Train travel ban extended to Tuesday.
Train travel ban extended to Tuesday.

The East Coast Main Line is closed to rail services today, and there will be no Thameslink or Great Northern services north of London tomorrow.

EMR will run an extremely limited service between Derby and London and between Nottingham and London this morning.

At lunchtime, services will stop running south of Leicester.

A limited EMR service to and from London may resume after 7pm if temperatures cool sufficiently.

There will be no EMR service between Corby and London St Pancras all day

Some of the very hottest temperatures are forecast for today along the A1/M1 corridor, which run alongside the Midland Main Line and East Coast Main Line.

Gary Walsh, route director for Network Rail in the East Midlands said: “We’re sorry to have to close the Midland Main Line south of Bedford during the hottest part of the day today.

"We want to offer the best possible service to passengers and closures are always a last resort. By putting in this ‘service break’ during the hottest temperatures we are protecting our ability to run a full service on Wednesday.

“The data from today combined with our knowledge of the way our track and overhead line is constructed and the forecast for tomorrow means it’s right to further cut back the speed of trains on the network.

“Our railway, like the rest of the country, is facing record temperatures this week.

"We’ve been carefully monitoring our track and overhead power lines all day on Monday and the data tells us that the unprecedented forecast temperatures for tomorrow would require a blanket 20mph speed restriction during the very hottest part of the day. At that speed the train service would simply become unworkable on the busiest part of the network”

Network Rail will continue to carefully monitor the track north of Bedford and may need to put in short notice restrictions if the rail temperature is more than 60 degrees.

For more information, visit https://www.networkrail.co.uk/