Lines into Piccadilly will close from 11pm on Saturday until 11am on Sunday with no trains running from the station during that period
21:07, 17 Apr 2026Updated 21:16, 17 Apr 2026
Passengers have been urged to plan ahead and check before they travel(Image: Sean Hansford | Manchester Evening News)
Rail passengers are warned to brace for a weekend of continued disruption at Manchester Piccadilly following major damage to overhead lines.
The ongoing problems follow major damage to the overhead line equipment after a train struck writing on its approach into Piccadilly on Thursday, April 16, causing what officials have desired as “significant damage over a long distance”.
Despite engineers working through the night to restore services, the scale of the damage meant full repairs cannot be completed until this weekend.
Lines into Piccadilly will close from 11pm on Saturday, April 18, until 11am on Sunday, April 19, with no trains running from the station during that period.
Services will only resume late on Sunday morning, while an amended timetable will be available across the network.
Passengers have been urged to plan ahead.
The overhead line equipment, which carries 25,000 volts of electricity to the trains, is a critical part of the railway and the damage has caused chaos across multiple routes, in particular long-distance services.
Network Rail’s North West route director, Chris Wright, said: “I am sorry to our passengers who have been impacted by the damage to our overhead wires outside Piccadilly.
“The damage was sustained over a large area in a complicated location on the railway. Our engineers have worked tirelessly to fix the issue, and we worked closely with train operators to offer an amended timetable today, which will continue into Saturday.
“We are carrying out a full repair on Saturday night. To do this, we need to close the line into Manchester Piccadilly between 11pm on Saturday and 11am on Sunday. Please, if you are planning to travel into Manchester by rail on Sunday morning, plan your journey in advance and allow extra travel time.”
While most services have now resumed, disruption continues particularly on routes linking Manchester and London.
“We continue to have disruption on London routes in particular, where those trains are turning back at Stockport,” Mr Wright said.
Services operated by Avanti West Coast between Manchester and London Euston are running to a significantly reduced timetable, with trains expected to be extremely busy.
Simon Turner, Head of Operational Readiness at Avanti West Coast, said: “We’ll be operating a significantly reduced timetable between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston on Saturday 18 April due to the ongoing issues with the overhead electric wires. These services are expected to be extremely busy, and we strongly advise customers to check before they travel.
“We’re continuing to work with Network Rail and industry partners to help customers get to their destinations via alternative routes. We’d like to thank customers for their patience and remind anyone whose journey is delayed by 15 minutes or more to claim Delay Repay compensation.”
Passengers are urged to check for the latest updates via national rail as services may change at a short notice.