Rail Chaos Could Last Until Weekend As Bosses Admit Engineering Work 'muddle'

Rail passengers could face chaos until the weekend and even beyond after a combination of overrunning engineering work, the closure of a London station and a fire at a major station in the Midlands caused misery for tens of thousands of passengers yesterday. Network Rail, which is in charge of the rail infrastructure, admitted it had made a "muddle" of engineering work, and one train company expressed concern that the chaos could be repeated throughout the year.

Politicians and passenger groups criticized the problems as the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) launched "an urgent investigation" into the engineering overruns. The disruption coincided with the first day of increased fares, which have already caused one passenger action group to plan a fare strike.

Work on overhead electrical lines on the west coast main line at Rugby in Warwickshire had been due to finish on Monday. But the job proved more difficult than expected and Network Rail (NR) did not have enough engineers to complete it on time. Thousands of passengers suffered delays of two hours or more as they were forced to use coaches or alternative rail routes. A fire in a cafe closed Birmingham International station.

Overrunning engineering work kept Liverpool Street station in London closed, hitting commuters returning to work. The station was expected to be fully open this morning, but NR could not say for certain when the line around Rugby would reopen.

Tony Collins, the chief executive of Virgin Trains, the train company worst hit by the delays, said it had written to the ORR asking if NR had breached its licence over its handling of the work on the west coast main line. Virgin fears further problems as work on the line is continuing throughout 2008. Collins said: "Is this just a one-off with Network Rail or is there an endemic problem? We need some transparency."

Robin Gisby, NR's director of operations and customer service, said: "We've made a muddle of the last couple of days. We got it wrong. It's very frustrating. I'm very sorry about what we've done to everybody both at Rugby and Liverpool Street."

He said about 400 people a shift had been working on a five-mile stretch of rail at Rugby. "As [the work] began to overrun during 30 and 31 December we couldn't get the extra resources we needed. We're flooding people into that job. We are still in a muddle. We are working flat out to get it fixed. It is a very important piece of work. We must get it done."

Gisby said the work had to be finished now so that "three or four" other major pieces of engineering work could take place at Easter and on bank holidays. He said: "We have the right plan, the right investment. We have made a nonsense of that at Rugby over the last few days." The ORR could fine NR heavily. The ORR's chairman, Chris Bolt, said: "We will review NR's whole program for completing the west coast works."

The shadow transport secretary, Theresa Villiers, said: "Passengers are on the end of a real double whammy, with the above-inflation rail fare hikes and disrupted service. No wonder so many of them will consider they are not getting value for money."

The Liberal Democrat transport spokesman, Norman Baker, dubbed the overrunning "a fiasco", adding that it was "a disgraceful way to run a railway".

Anthony Smith, the chief executive of the customer watchdog body Passenger Focus, said: "Passengers are paying more, but the rail industry must keep its side of the bargain by keeping its promises on engineering work."

Rail woes

Engineering work at Rugby has left the west coast main line closed between Northampton and Coventry, but other destinations on this route have also been severely affected. Connecting bus services are available in the worst hit areas, but Virgin, which run trains between London and the north-west, is advising its passengers not to travel unless it is absolutely essential. Normal service is not expected to resume until tomorrow morning.

Liverpool Street station in London was closed after engineering works overran. The station partially re-opened yesterday, but a full service is not expected to be restored until today.

London underground Victoria line services will not call at Victoria station before January 6 owing to refurbishment works. Passengers are advised to use alternative services.