Third day of rail cancellations in Devon after cracks found in some trains

The problems with high-speed Hitachis are affecting services between Penzance and London

Published 10th May 2021

Major disruption on Devon's main rail link to London is running into a THIRD day, after cracks were found in some trains.

High speed Hitachis have been pulled from service across the UK after safety checks revealed problems over the weekend.

It is continuing to cause widespread delays and cancellations, affecting GWR services between Penzance and London.

The government has told operators to come up with a plan to limit disruption across the network.

Great Western Railway insists it had no choice, adding that the week ahead will be all about running what services they can, when they can.

GWR said: "This issue is obviously frustrating for customers, as it is for the whole of the rail industry.

"But what's top of our priority is making sure that those trains that are out on the network are absolutely safe so there is going to be an impact on services.

"Hitachi have got to do a significant piece of work to identify which trains are safe to come back into service.

"The week ahead is really going to be about us running what we can, when we're able to and hopefully with more trains available to us".

Dan Panes, Great Western Railway

Speaking on Sunday, the CEO of Hitachi Rail, Andrew Barr, said: "Our main focus right now is getting the trains returning into service and ensuring that we can guarantee that safety.

"Alongside that, we're looking at the long-term fixes that might be necessary but really, right now, we don't know; our primary focus is assessing the safety".

Andrew Barr, Hitachi Rail

You can plan your journey and check which services are affected on the Great Western Railway website here.******