Network Rail repairs fiasco workers off work through 'festive hangover'

Jan 3 2008 By Emma Cullwick, Birmingham Mail

MIDLAND train passengers faced further misery today as allegations emerged that the network was brought to a halt because key staff took "sickies" as a result of festive hangovers.

Transport watchdogs and Network Rail are investigating after railway insiders blamed hung-over absentees for delays to completing vital engineering work on the West Coast Main Line.

The insiders said "absenteeism" and "sickness" caused 20 specialist workers to fail to turn up to work on the £8 billion project on the line, which links London to Scotland and runs through Birmingham.

Some are thought to have been nursing hangovers and allegedly opted not to report for duty through fear of falling foul of industry sobriety rules.

The work on the line at Rugby was originally due to finish on December 30 but NR bosses said it was now extended until 5am tomorrow.

It would not comment on reports that services may not return to normal until Monday.

Virgin Train bosses today advised passengers not to use its services as it was forced to scrap trains between Birmingham and London, with commuters facing bus trips from Birmingham International to Northampton to connect with a Virgin train to the capital, adding at least an hour to journeys.

Virgin is also having to run fewer trains between the second city and Liverpool, Manchester and Motherwell.

Passengers were being advised to catch Chiltern trains from Birmingham to London Marylebone, which does not run along the West Coast Main Line.

As the Rail Regulator hinted NR could be facing a multi-million pound fine, business chiefs warned the delays could spark major damage to Birmingham's economy.

Jerry Blackett, chief executive of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, said: "Our greatest asset is our central location but situations like this only reinforce the negative stereotype that Birmingham is a difficult city to get in and out of.

"This main line is vital to those companies that are doing business in London and the delays would have hit meetings and commuters.

"The Birmingham economy is worth £20 billion a year to the UK - equating to £55 million a day and we can't afford too many days like this when people are forced to stay away from their offices because of transport problems."

Yesterday, passengers spoke of 'nightmare journeys', which were compounded by a kitchen fire that saw Birmingham International station being evacuated.

At New Street station 26-year-old student Amanda Trow, who was stuck during her journey back to Wales after visiting a friend for the New Year, was told she had to wait an 75 minutes for the next train.

"For people in a major hurry this must be very annoying," she said.

"I've seen a couple of irate people annoyed with the train companies but it's not their fault."

Problems were also compounded by the overrunning of NR engineering works at London's Liverpool Street affecting services from the capital to East Anglia. Parts of the station remained closed today.

Virgin Trains' chief executive Tony Collinsckd said: "This has been a fiasco and our customers expect and deserve better.

"We are pleased that rail regulators are investigating this urgently and we must ensure we never have a repeat of the last few days."

Passengers with Virgin Trains tickets dated for today could claim a full refund from where they purchased the ticket, he added.

NR spokesman Robin Gisbey said he was "deeply sorry" about the further disruption to passengers.

The fiasco is to be raised in the House of Commons as soon as Parliament returns from the Christmas break on Monday, said Louise Ellman, a senior member of the Transport Select Committee.

For more information visit www.nationalrail.co.uk or call 08457 48 49 50.