Lime Street Station resumed its services today after a wall of debris fell onto the tracks, causing a nightmare week for commuters.
Travelers have been forced to find alternate routes to and from Liverpool since last Tuesday, when a section of trackside wall broke off, sending 200 tonnes of rubble across power lines just outside the station
The incident caused passengers on trains at the time to be stranded for up to three hours, prompting the city centre transport hub closure as engineers sought to repair the damages as soon as possible.
Bus replacement services were provided regularly and ticket restrictions were also relaxed, with the reopening of Lime Street coming 24 hours earlier than had been expected.
Martin Frobisher, Northern Rails North West MD, said: “I am thrilled to be able to get customers moving again in and out of Liverpool’s main station. Our orange army have worked tirelessly since the incident occurred.
“We are grateful for the teamwork and support of the train companies, and for the patience of both passengers and neighbouring residents and businesses.”
YouTube: Network Rail
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxLI2GIsY7U
Reports surfaced that the fallen debris almost collided with trains that contained passengers, and that the owner of the area of land from which the wall fell had previously faced council action due to dangerous storage practices on the site.
As train services resumed and commuters started to enjoy the resumption of normality, one passenger, John Allen, 56, from Huyton, told JMU Journalism: “Getting into work has been nothing short of a nightmare for me, a nightmare. I couldn’t stand getting the busses, especially with all the traffic of a morning.
“I’m made up the trains are back on, back to business as usual for us workers.”