Knock-on effects from last Friday”s (23 February) Virgin Trains derailment continue to be felt across the operator”s northern network.
The accident that claimed one life and seriously injured several others, severely disrupted services on the West Coast Mainline, with passengers obliged to travel using circuitous routings on coaches.
Direct replacement coaches are operating between Preston and Carlisle (both directions), on a revised timetable and between Lancaster and Carlisle serving Oxenholme and Penrith. Services on other Virgin Train routes are not affected.
For those holding Advance Purchase Tickets and affected by the accident, travel is permitted earlier than their booked train on the day of departure until further notice.
GNER, TransPennine and Northern will be accepting Virgin Trains tickets until further notice, while passengers needing to take a different Virgin route, will be able to use existing tickets.
A statement from Virgin Trains said: ”The thoughts of everyone at Virgin Trains are with the family of Margaret Masson, who was tragically killed in the accident and those who remain in hospital.
”We are committed to working with other train operating companies and all our partners in the industry, particularly Network Rail, to ensure this never happens again.”