Railway line reopens after fire near tracks

Engineers replaced cables beside fire-damaged cabling at Stevenage

Train services have returned to normal after a fire broke out by a railway track damaging signalling cables.

Network Rail said the blaze near London Road, Stevenage caused "major disruption" for Great Northern, Thameslink, LNER and Lumo services.

It was reported by a train driver at 12:30 BST on Wednesday and was extinguished by Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, an hour and a half later.

It caused damage to 25 individual telecommunications and signalling cables along a 20m (66ft) section of railway, and investigations into the cause continue, it added.

Signalling engineers worked through the night to fix the damaged cables

In total about 1,000m (3281 ft) of cable is due to be replaced.

Network Rail said its engineers worked throughout the night to restore the signalling and it was completed at about 14:00, when the line reopened.

"Over the last 24 hours teams have raced to carry out temporary repairs to prioritise getting trains running again for passengers and freight," Network Rail said.

"Work will continue over the weekend to renew the protective casing the cables sit in - known as troughing - which was also badly damaged in the blaze."

It added that train services will not be impacted, with work due to finish on Monday.

Paul Rutter, Network Rail’s East Coast route director, thanked passengers for their patience after experiencing "really challenging journeys".

The fire caused damage to signalling cable