THE disruption on intercity routes between London, Leeds and Edinburgh, and also between London, Bristol, south Wales and south west England is continuing today, after cracks were found in some Hitachi-built Intercity Express units on Saturday morning.
After several days of speculation, the Rail Delivery Group has said the cracks were found in aluminium blocks which are used in depots as lifting points. The RDG said these blocks are not used in normal service, but there is a ‘small risk that they could become dislodged’.
It added that the operators are ‘prioritising safety’, and that ‘Hitachi, the rail regulator and train operators will not put trains back into service until they are all confident it is safe to do so. Hitachi will continue to inspect all trains on a daily basis.’
LNER is expecting to bring two recently-withdrawn IC225 sets back into service later this week, but some services are already running again between London and Edinburgh.
The problems are worse on GWR, where through services are being replaced by a series of shuttles and passengers are being advised not to try to travel today.