NETWORK RAIL is hoping to fully reopen the Midland Main Line at Radlett later this weekend, but repair work will not restart until Saturday night.
Work will not take place tonight (Friday) at the request of train operators, who need to run services late tonight that would have to be cancelled if engineers were on the line.
The main line was completely blocked in Hertfordshire when a kilometre of overhead lines collapsed on Wednesday. All four lines through Radlett were open today, but the up fast line was still not electrified. This affected First Capital Connect for a third day running, although services have returned to near normal.
A spokesman for Network Rail said it was hard for the company to respond to claims from the RMT that the problem had been caused by what the union alleged were 'maintenance cutbacks', because the cause of the failure has not yet been identified. An investigation is underway, and the spokesman said sections of the cable would be given 'exhaustive forensic tests' in a bid to establish why the catenary collapsed.