A herd of cows causes major disruption on the UK’s busiest intercity rail route, with services affected after the animals wander onto the tracks. Multiple train operators report problems on the West Coast Main Line, particularly services running between London and destinations in the north of England and Scotland.
The disruptions impact passengers on routes including London Euston to Scotland, with Avanti West Coast and Lumo among the operators running affected services. Additional reports state that trains between London and Manchester are also disrupted, with cancellations and delays across more than one service.
According to accounts of the incident, the cows block the line in Staffordshire for more than three hours, leading to widespread operational disruption for services passing through the area. Once the line is cleared, normal running can resume, though some disruption and residual delays may continue depending on the knock-on effects to timetables.
Overall, the incident is attributed to livestock on the line and results in cancelled trains and delays for thousands of passengers.
