Cable thieves cause commuter chaos on the trains

Three men were seen burning off the outer plastic coating of the cable at the Neville Hill depot in east Leeds.

The men ran off when challenged but the loss of signalling communications affected services, with National Rail reporting delays to many trains.

Damage to the signalling equipment delayed trains leaving the depot, causing delays to services on other routes via Leeds and York.

First TransPennine Express services between Manchester and Hull were only running between Leeds and Hull. And trains between Leeds and York were being diverted to avoid Garforth and South Milford.

Some CrossCountry services were diverted between Sheffield, Leeds and York.

Carolyn Watson, external communications manager for Northern Rail, said: “The problem was reported shortly before 5am and the line was restored to full normal working at approx 8.30am.

“In reality the impact on services in the area took until about 10am until timetables were running to normal. The fault initially prevented us getting train units out of the depot and into service, which meant the impact was felt wider than just the east Leeds corridor.

“We were able to run trains through the affected area at reduced frequency and speed and we also had replacement bus services operating between Selby, Micklefield and Garforth.”