UK News 26-10-2000 Rail Delays Will Last Months who: Railtrack what: Cause chaos with sudden track closure where: CARLISLE when: Monday night snippet: "Britain`s rail network was in chaos last night in the wake of the Hatfield disaster," says The Mirror. "Huge delays hit hundreds of trains as passengers were warned to expect three months of line closures, cancellations and slow services." "Railtrack`s decision late on Monday night to close part of the West Coast mainline caused chaos as there were nationwide cancellations and massive delays," reports Juliette Jowit, Transport Correspondent to The Financial Times. The closure was announced after John Prescott ordered the inspection of track between Glasgow and Carlisle where experts expected to find so-called "gauge corner cracking" similar to the track which caused last Tuesday`s fatal accident in Hatfield. Speed restrictions were introduced in 150 locations, some as low as 20mph, and are expected to be in place for weeks or in some cases months. "Virgin Trains, which had to cancel more than half of its West Coast and mainline services north of Carlisle near the Scottish border, led angry complaints by operators about the short notice," Jowitt`s report continues. On inspection, the track between Glasgow and Carlisle was found to be in acceptable condition and has been re-opened, with restrictions, this morning. Meanwhile, Royal Mail has complained that millions of letters will be delayed because of the disruption, despite adding extra emergency air and road routes. "Downing Street said that the handling of the closure of the west coast line had not been `ideal`," says Linus Gregoriadis in The Telegraph. [... more]

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