Incident resolved: major disruption between Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield / Crewe expected until 19:30 

Route(s) affected

Avanti West Coast between London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly

CrossCountry between Plymouth / Paignton / Bristol Temple Meads / Banbury and Manchester Piccadilly

East Midlands Railway between Derby and Crewe

London Northwestern Railway between Stafford and Crewe

Description

The emergency services have now safely dealt with the earlier incident between Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield / Crewe, allowing all lines running between these stations to reopen.

Until service recovers, trains may still be cancelled in full, delayed by up to 60 minutes, revised or diverted.

Major disruption is expected until 19:30.

A visual disruption map video is available.

Avanti West Coast customer advice:

Trains may still be diverted via Crewe to avoid the affected area. Where trains divert, Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield will not be served.

If your train is cancelled, your ticket is valid on one of the two Avanti West Coast services immediately before your booked train, or one of the two immediately after.

If you no longer wish to travel because your train is delayed or cancelled, you can request a full refund from where you bought your ticket.

CrossCountry customer advice:

Trains may still be diverted via Crewe to avoid the affected area. Where trains divert, Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield will not be served.

You may use your ticket on the following services at no extra cost:

• Avanti West Coast between Birmingham New Street and Stafford, and also between Stafford and Manchester Piccadilly (please note, these services are also impacted by this issue)

• London Northwestern Railway between Stafford and Crewe (please note, these services are also impacted by this issue)

Your ticket can also be used at no extra cost on the two CrossCountry services operating before and after your cancelled service.

If you decide to travel from a different station due to this disruption and need to return to that station later, you will also be able to use your existing ticket to do this at no extra cost.

Unfortunately, any seat reservations will not be carried over to another train, but coaches B, H and L are the unreserved coaches on CrossCountry services (where available) so please head to them.

East Midlands Railway customer advice:

How do I get where I need to be?

Rail replacement buses have been sourced to run between Crewe and Stoke-on-Trent, in both directions as follows:

• 18:00 from Stoke-on-Trent to Crewe, calling at all stations

• 18:00 from Crewe to Stoke-on-Trent, calling at all stations

The bus journey is estimated to take approximately 30 minutes.

You can also use your ticket at no extra cost to travel on rail replacement buses provided by London Northwestern Railway. You should see station teams for advice on these additional buses.

London Northwestern Railway customer advice:

Trains may still be revised to run non-stop between Stafford and Crewe.

Rail replacement buses has been sourced to operate between Stafford and Crewe, calling at Stone and Stoke-on-Trent. Please see station staff for more information.

Check before you travel:

You can check your journey using the National Rail Enquiries real-time Journey Planner.

For helpful advice if you need to travel on a rail replacement service, including accessibility and bicycle information, please use our Rail Replacement Services page.

You can find the pick-up and drop-off location of rail replacement services by checking station signage or by searching for your station on our Find a Station page.

Please be advised that replacement vehicles may be busier than usual, and you should allow extra time for your journey.

Compensation:

You may be entitled to compensation if you experience a delay in completing your journey today. Please keep your train ticket and make a note of your journey, as both will be required to support any claim.