Network Rail’s East Anglian route boss has issued a profound apology to Greater Anglia passengers after they suffered two days of delays on the main line to London.
Late-running engineering work between Ilford and Shenfield on Wednesday morning caused delays and cancellations for early commuters to the capital.
This followed a lineside fire at Bethnal Green on Tuesday which had caused earlier delays.
Network Rail route managing director for Anglia Meliha Duymaz issued the apology through Twitter.
Derek Monnery from the Essex Federation of Rail Users was pleased to hear about the apology – but said it was vital Network Rail got its act together.
He said: “We are getting the new trains next year. If the tracks and other infrastructure don’t work then that will be totally unacceptable.
“It is just not right for passengers who rely on the trains to be held up like this, especially something like over-running engineering work.”
A few years ago there was a spate of incidents of over-running engineering work – especially after line closures. At one point some commuters were taking Mondays off because they did not expect to be able to get to work on time.
However over the last two years Network Rail has taken action to ensure their engineers do finish on time – and it has become rare for work to over-run.
And the apology comes just after it was revealed that one incident in the summer on the main line between Ipswich and Norwich was caused by a train hitting a small piece of engineering equipment that had been left by the track after overnight work.
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