Great Railway Fiascos No. 10: Train route blocked by way the crow flies
Great Railway Fiascos: No 1
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
AS A long-suffering rail traveller, Noreen Murray has listened to many excuses. But she thought she must have misheard when an announcement was made that a "bird strike" had halted her journey.
Travelling from Birmingham to Holyhead in north Wales should have taken just two hours. But the journey was sabotaged after a crow flew into the overhead cables and "exploded", causing a major power failure.
"Cows on the line I have heard of, and leaves, but this was my first experience of a bird holding up a train," said the retired teacher, of Edgbaston, Birmingham.
On 28 July, Ms Murray set off on North West's 10.07 from Birmingham hoping to catch the 13.45 ferry from to Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire.
Between Stafford and Crewe, the train, which was already running 15 minutes late, suddenly ground to a halt. "We were informed that the power lines were down due to the fact that a crow had flown on to them, exploded, and brought the line down," said Ms Murray. "There goes my ferry, I thought."
Two hours later, after it became evident that the cables could not be readily repaired, an engine was sent to tow the train back to Stafford. Passengers were then transferred to a coach which took them to Crewe and from there to the ferry terminal in Holyhead. "Needless to say I missed the ferry and had to wait until 6.20pm for the last one," said Ms Murray. "A journey that should have taken just five hours in the end took 12 hours because of one bird."
Railtrack, which owns the rail network, said the "bird strike" happened on a "particularly sensitive" piece of equipment where power cables converged. "The bird flew into the wires and then exploded, causing serious damage with some of the lines sagging dangerously," said a spokesman.
A whole stretch of the West Coast main line had to be shut off and trains were diverted for the entire afternoon to allow repairs to be carried out.
t Do you have your own story of a railway fiasco? Write to: Great Railway Fiascos, The Independent Newsdesk, 1 Canada Square, London E14 5DL. Or e-mail: newseditor@independent.co.uk
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments