Overhead wire damage sees major delays to Caledonian Sleeper service

Rail passengers in Scotland have been advised not to travel today after damage to overhead electric wires near Carlisle.

Passengers on the Caledonian Sleeper have been at a standstill for hours. Picture: Contributed

The damage between Carstairs and Carlisle is causing heavy delays on the London Euston to Glasgow/Edinburgh Caledonian Sleeper service, with one passenger claiming they have been at a standstill for almost two hours.

Kevin Clifford Andrews said: “On the lowland sleeper. Haven’t moved to 2 hours, stuck near Symington.”

National Rail say some lines between Edinburgh/Motherwell and Carlisle are blocked as a result and train services between these stations may be delayed by up to 60 minutes or cancelled.

It’s understood the disruption is expected until 6pm on Saturday.

The damage may also halt all cross-Border trains as the East Coast Main Line is closed for engineering work.

London North Eastern Railway customers have been advised not to travel today as there are no services departing Newcastle or Edinburgh.

As an alternative, coaches have been requested to run between Edinburgh and Newcastle via Carlisle.

TransPennine Express services were start and terminate at Carlisle and ticket acceptance is in place with Virgin Trains. Road transport has also been requested to run between Edinburgh, Glasgow, Carlisle and Lockerbie.

Virgin Trains customers can use their tickets to TransPennine Express and ScotRail services and rail replacement coaches have been requested to Carlisle and Glasgow Central