Many Chester rail passengers face major disruption today (Wednesday, February 28) as one of North Wales’ main train routes is closed.
No Arriva Trains Wales services are running between Blaenau Ffestiniog and Llandudno Junction or between Cardiff, Manchester and Holyhead due to urgent safety checks having to be carried out, reports our sister paper Daily Post .
All of the firm’s fleet of long distance 175 trains have been pulled from service due to the extra inspections with lines expected to be shut all day.
There is no firm estimate of how long the disruption will last but it is likely to continue until at least into this afternoon.
A limited train service is available between Shrewsbury and Crewe.
A message on Arriva Trains Wales website said: “Due to urgent safety checks with our entire 175 ( long distance) train fleet, we have had to suspend the majority of our long distance services today.
“There will be no ATW services between Cardiff - Manchester/Holyhead (via Shrewsbury) until further notice."
Arriva said passengers can use tickets on the following operators services on all reasonable routes:
-West Midlands Railway between Hereford and Birmingham New Street
-CrossCountry via any reasonable route, inducing between Birmingham New Street and Manchester.
And there is also disruption to the Merseyrail service this morning, with cancellations and potential delays at Chester, Ellesmere Port, New Brighton and West Kirby due to adverse weather conditions and lack of rolling stock.
Trains are running but some cancelled there are gaps in the timetable. Some buses are running also, to help rail services that are running.
