Birmingham commuters left stranded as storms batter the Midlands
Dec 7 2007 By Alison Dayani and Nick McCarthy, Birmingham Mail
THOUSANDS of passengers were left stranded today after train services were thrown into chaos on two key Birmingham commuter lines.
Workers were stuck at railway stations across north Birmingham when overhead lines failed and a train was stranded at Sutton Coldfield at the height of rush hour at 7.40am.
The power failed in conditions of heavy wind and driving rain, which left more than 500 homes across the Midlands cut off.
To add to the travel misery, journeys between Walsall and Birmingham New Street were also hit when a tree fell on the line at 6.30am, although normal service was resumed within an hour.
A London Midland spokeswoman said: "The train at Sutton was removed at 9.50am by a rescue train and Network Rail checked the overhead lines.
"Unfortunately no trains were running at this time and there were no replacement buses so passengers waited or used alternative public or private transport.
"Everything started to get back to normal at around 10.30am and we do not envisage any more problems for commuters for the rest of the day."
Homes in Birmingham, Worcestershire, Telford and Stourbridge were blacked out by high winds which damaged power cables.
At least 160 homes were said to have been left without power at Chelmsley Wood yesterdayThurs, although supplies were restored overnight.
Around 350 homes in Bromsgrove, Telford and Stourbridge were cut off and supplies were also restored today.
Power company Central Networks said a "number of pockets" across the Midlands were blacked out by high winds and driving rain.
Homes at Chelmsley Wood lost power for the second time in 24 hours at noon yesterday.
Central Networks confirmed the problem was weather-related.
Pensioner James Hetherington, aged 85, of Falkland Way, Chelmsley Wood, said: "This is the sort of thing we went through during the war. You don't expect it these days.
"It is appalling. I am a pensioner and have not got any heating, electricity, lighting or hot water.
"The electricity board told me at least 160 homes were affected and staff were out digging the ground. It was a major blackout."
A Central Networks spokesman said: "There were lots of small cuts across the region and this morning all of the Birmingham homes have had their power restored.
"Unfortunately, our engineers are still working to restore power to around 350 homes in Worcestershire, Bromsgrove, Telford and Stourbridge.
"The cuts were weather-related because of the high winds and driving rain that came into the region last night.
"It is usually where trees come down onto power lines and disrupt supplies but we do our best to minimise this by protecting the lines and cutting back trees.
"We are working on the areas which are still without power and we cannot give times that power will be restored. This was not a wide spread power cut, it was lots of individual cuts."
