Fire chaos halts rush-hour trains

Commuters faced rail misery this morning as services from Rochdale to Manchester on the Oldham loop line were halted by a suspected arson attack.

Trains from Rochdale, via Milnrow and Newhey, and those travelling through Rochdale from Manchester to Calder Valley were all affected by an early-morning fire in two control cabinets at Collyhurst.

The incident left hundreds struggling to get to work. Northern Rail was forced to lay on shuttle buses to Manchester.

The firm managed to run shuttle trains on the Oldham loop once-an-hour to Rochdale and back, so passengers could transfer to other Manchester-bound trains. Mini-buses were scrambled to take passengers from other stations towards Manchester.
Trains were also delayed on the line from Manchester to Calder Valley via Mills Hill, Castleton and Rochdale but were still running.

The blaze was discovered by British Transport Police at around 2.30am.

Network Rail engineers were on-site this mornng, trying to repair the damage.

A Network Rail spokesman said: “The fire badly damaged equipment. We are not sure it was arson. Our priority is to get the damage repaired, then we will launch an investigation. We advise all passengers to check before they travel.”

A Northern Rail spokeswoman added: “Where the damage occurred is where trains would go on to the loop line. We can only run trains in one direction.”