Yorkshire rail chaos after 'immediate threat to life' on bridge

Disruption is expected across the LNER network after a concern for safety call at Retford Station(Image: Google Maps)

Major disruption is impacting LNER services today (Friday, May 17) after trains were stopped overnight due to an immediate threat to life.

At 7.30pm on Thursday evening, an LNER driver contacted Network Rail after spotting a person the railway close to Retford Station in Nottinghamshire, with the British Transport Police contacted soon afterwards. The police arrived alongside Network Rail and a vulnerable man was found on top of a railway bridge over a river at 8.20pm.

As a result, the railway was closed to allow officers to manage the situation. Thankfully, the incident ended safely at around 3.20am this morning.

A British Transport Police spokesperson said: "We were called just before 7:40pm yesterday (16 April) to reports of a trespasser on the line near Retford railway station.

"Officers responded alongside Nottinghamshire Police and other emergency services, and a man was located in a precarious position on a bridge. A specialist police negotiator also attended the scene to bring the incident to a safe conclusion due to concerns for the man's welfare.

"At 3:20am on 17 April the man was arrested on suspicion of obstructing the railway and taken into police custody where he remains."

However, LNER is now expecting significant disruption to its services as crews and trains have been left out of position. LNER trains pass through Yorkshire on the East Coast Main Line to Edinburgh and London, at Doncaster, Leeds, Wakefield, York, and more.

David Horne, Managing Director at LNER, said: "I would like to offer my profound apologies to all those whose journeys have been affected. We are aware that people were waiting at stations and onboard our trains for a long time, and we know that our customers will have been travelling for important reasons.

"I want to reassure everyone that our teams, both on the ground and behind the scenes, were working hard to get people moving towards their destinations as quickly as possible. However, due to the sensitivity of the incident and with the safety of everyone involved being paramount, we could only run our services through the affected area when British Transport Police determined it was safe to do so.

"We thank our customers for their patience and understanding while teams responded to the sensitive situation."

Any LNER customers with tickets dated Thursday, April 16, or Friday, April 17, can use their existing tickets on any LNER service to their destination up to and including Monday, April 20. LNER recommends customers make a new seat reservation for free via the LNER App, its website, or at its Travel Centres.

Gunnar Lindahl, joint operations director for Network Rail and LNER, said: "Our teams worked closely with the emergency services and train operators during this serious and sensitive incident to keep everyone safe and reopen the railway as soon as it was safe to do so.

"We're sorry to anyone whose journey was affected while the situation was brought to a safe conclusion. Once the line was clear, our teams worked quickly to restore services and support operators in getting trains on the move again."

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