The line is closed between Leicester and Market Harborough – service not expected to return to normal until this afternoon.
East Midlands Railways said:
‘There has been a low speed derailment during some planned engineering works near Market Harborough between Leicester and Kettering disrupting our trains on the Sheffield/Nottingham/London and Corby/London routes.
‘Network Rail have now rerailed the affected train and are now starting to carry out any repairs, once those are repaired the incomplete engineering work will need to be finished. These works are expected to be completed by 16:00.
‘We are unable to run any trains via Market Harborough. Our trains can still run between Leicester and Kettering by diverting via a different route. This route would mean that we would be unable to stop at Market Harborough.
‘We will be running a reduced train service as follows:.
‘One train per hour in each direction between Sheffield and London St Pancras via Chesterfield and Derby. These trains will not be stopping at Leicester but will stop at Kettering.
‘One train per hour in each direction between Nottingham and London St Pancras via Leicester.
‘We are planning for our trains between Corby and London St Pancras to run normally.
‘At present the estimate for the line to reopen is 16:00. Our priority once the line reopens will be to work to restore our advertised timetable.’
Whilst we are running this reduced timetable and diverting via an extended route, this may delay your journey by up to 90 minutes. Our trains are also likely to be busier than usual and we would strongly suggest you consider travelling later in the day or one of the alternative routes that we are advising our customers below to use instead.
We have made arrangements for rail replacement transport to run between Leicester, Market Harborough and Kettering; this would extend your journey by up to 60 minutes. These buses should start to run from approximately 05:00.
We have relaxed some of our usual ticket restrictions. If you hold an Advance Ticket which is usually valid on a specific train you may use it to travel on any of our trains on this route.
If you have an Off Peak or Super Off Peak ticket you may use it on board Peak Time trains on this route today.
If you have a ticket dated for travel today and decide not to travel you may use your ticket to travel tomorrow instead.
Our trains are likely to experience extended delays or alterations. You should use alternative routes which will be most comfortable and quickest way to get where you need to be. You may travel via the following alternative routes:.
Travelling between Sheffield. Chesterfield, Derby, Long Eaton, East Midlands Parkway, Loughborough and Leicester
If you are travelling between Sheffield, Derby, Chesterfield, Long Eaton and East Midlands Parkway, Loughborough & Leicester please travel via Nottingham on any service for connecting trains, this may extend your journey time by up to 60 minutes. If travelling between Sheffield, Chesterfield and Long Eaton please change at Derby for alternative services; this may extend your journey time by up to 30 minutes.
Sheffield
You may travel to Doncaster where you should change for a train to London Kings Cross. It is likely to take between 2 and 2.5 hours to complete this journey. LNER, who run the trains between Doncaster and London Kings Cross recommend booking a seat reservation. This can be done up to 5 minutes before the train departs at lner.co.uk/travel-information/make-a-reservation/ Visit eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk/travelling-via-kings-cross for lots of useful information about what to expect when travelling via Kings Cross. Please check your journey via this route as there is currently disruption.
Derby/Chesterfield
You may travel to Birmingham New Street where you should change for a train to London Euston. It is likely to take between 2.5 and 3 hours to complete this journey. . Visit eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk/travelling-via-euston for lots of useful information about what to expect when travelling via Euston.
Long Eaton
You may travel to Derby where you should change for a train to London St Pancras. If you wish to travel between Long Eaton, East Midlands Parkway, Loughborough or Leicester please go via Nottingham. This may extend your journey time by up to 60 minutes.
Nottingham
You may travel to Grantham where you should change for a train to London Kings Cross. It is likely to take between 2 and 2.5 hours to complete this journey. LNER, who run the trains between Grantham and London Kings Cross recommend booking a seat reservation. This can be done up to 5 minutes before the train departs at lner.co.uk/travel-information/make-a-reservation/ Visit eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk/travelling-via-kings-cross for lots of useful information about what to expect when travelling via Kings Cross. Please check your journey via this route as there is currently disruption.
Leicester
You may travel to Nuneaton where you should change for a train to London Euston. It is likely to take 2 hours to complete this journey. Visit eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk/travelling-via-euston for lots of useful information about what to expect when travelling via Euston.
All of these alternative route options are available in the opposite direction too. Dont worry about your ticket, we have already made arrangements with other train companies for you to travel with your original ticket.
We promise that if you need to start your outward journey from a different operator’s station due to this disruption, then you will also be able to travel back to that station when you return, regardless of if the disruption has ended or your ticket type. Our rail industrycolleagueswill welcome you on board with your original ticket.
These arrangements will remain in place until the line re-opens and the train service recovers.
More at EMR website.
