Rail minister blames delay on electrification work on bad weather and two specialist trains that broke down and CRASHED

Rail minister Jo Johnson said he was '˜disappointed' with the delay on work, which was blamed on a '˜combination of bad weather and technical glitches', including a breakdown on a specialist wiring train '“ with another wiring train involved in a road smash.
Blackpool North station earlier this weekBlackpool North station earlier this week
Blackpool North station earlier this week

In a letter to his predecessor Paul Maynard, the MP for Blackpool North and Cleveleys, he said 20 shifts of work, based on two shifts a day, had been lost as a result.

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He said: “I shared your disappointment at the news which was circulation by Network Rail ... that the reopening of the Blackpool North-Preston line has been delayed by three weeks.

“About six to eight weeks ago, Network Rail arranged for a supplementary high output wiring train from OCR (Overhead Condition Renewals – an internal Network Rail team) to assist [contractor] Volkers in delivering the wiring requirements for the Blackpool upgrade.

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“The project was progressing well until high winds and snow disrupted progress on wiring. Just around that time, unfortunately, there was also a breakdown in a part of the high-output wiring train from OCR.

“The high-output train was being regularly maintained and the breakdown was unexpected. This took the train out of action for five days.

“Subsequently, the existing Volkers wiring train was in a road traffic accident.”