Rail passengers faced with emergency timetables as staff shortages hit network

A cut to services is being seen across the UK because of the sheer number of people having to isolate because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Staff shortages both on trains and in the engineering departments have led to problems across the country.

Rail passengers were hit by disruption on the first working day of the year due to a combination of faults and coronavirus-related staff shortages.

Transport for Wales (TfW) and Network Rail, which runs a number of services through Shropshire, said it had continued to see a significant increase in staff absences as a result of the latest wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and this had impacted rail services in recent weeks.

"An emergency rail timetable introduced from December 22 equated to a reduction of between 10-15 per cent of the standard timetable," Jan Chaudhry-Van de Velde, managing director of TfW Rail, said.

"However, with staff absences continuing to increase, the decision has been taken to further reduce services to ensure the company can provide a reliable service throughout this latest stage of the pandemic.

"The new timetable will remain in place over the coming weeks and will be reviewed regularly as the rail industry in Wales monitors the impact of the new Omicron variant on staff levels.

"All customers are urged to check tfw.wales before travelling and follow the up-to-date guidance from the Welsh Government."

ScotRail implemented a temporary weekday timetable on Tuesday sayint the Omicron variant of Covid-19 had resulted in a "large number of absences".

More than 150 daily services have been cut, including on routes such as Glasgow to Edinburgh via Airdrie/Bathgate; Glasgow Central to Lanark; Edinburgh to North Berwick; and Edinburgh to Tweedbank.

Other examples include Southern not serving London Victoria until January 10, while CrossCountry has removed around 50 daily trains from its timetables until next week.

Demand for rail travel is at around half that of pre-pandemic levels.

This is partly due to the guidance for people to work from home.

No London Overground services were able to run between Clapham Junction and Surrey Quays on Tuesday morning due to a fault on a train.

National Rail Enquiries warned passengers that a "problem under investigation" between Darlington and York was causing disruption between the stations. This affected CrossCountry, London North Eastern Railway and TransPennine Express services.

Merseyrail services were suspended between Kirkdale and Kirkby following a power supply problem.

Urgent repairs were being carried out to replace part of the signalling system in Slade Green, south-east London, following an electrical fault.

The issue meant the line through the station towards Dartford was blocked, affecting Southeastern trains.