Bank Holiday travel chaos at Leeds Station as signalling fault triggers massive train delays
Travelers heading into Leeds face severe disruption this afternoon after a major signalling failure on the East Coast Main Line leaves inbound services delayed
Bank Holiday Monday travellers heading into Leeds are facing severe disruption this afternoon following a major signalling failure on the East Coast Main Line.
Although Network Rail engineers have now resolved the initial fault between Newark Northgate and Retford, a massive backlog of trains has left inbound services to Yorkshire facing sweeping delays, short-notice alterations, and cancellations.
The disruption window has officially been extended until 2pm (90 minutes more than the initial 12:30 disruption window), with operators warning that lines will take time to recover as trains are forced to run at reduced speeds through the affected areas.
While departure boards at Leeds Station are showing relatively stable lines with minor ten-minute delays, the story is entirely different for passengers travelling northbound into the city.
The live arrivals board shows the immediate impact of the mid-day bottleneck, with multiple high-speed operators taking significant knocks; most notably, the 11:21am LNER service from London King's Cross to Leeds is currently running 81 minutes late, with its expected arrival pushed back to 12:42pm.
It is followed closely by the 11:49am LNER service from London King's Cross, which is tracking more than an hour behind schedule and is now expected at 12:54.
Further down the board, the 12:24pm LNER service from London King's Cross has already picked up a 41-minute delay before clearing the southern bottlenecks, with an expected arrival time of 1:05pm.
Local cross-country services are also starting to see the knock-on effects of the congestion, with the 12:10pm Northern arrival from Doncaster delayed due to a late-running train blocking the line ahead.
Commuters and holidaymakers are being urged to check their entire journey before heading to the platform. If you are caught on board an affected service or find your train cancelled, ensure you keep hold of your physical or digital tickets to support any future Delay Repay compensation claims.
Network Rail and train operators are advising passengers to carry water with them due to warm weather conditions across parts of the network today, with refill stations available on the main concourse at Leeds.