Train services through Wigan were badly disrupted last night after signal cables were damaged, apparently by would-be thieves.

Cables were cut several times near Bamfurlong, south of Wigan, causing problems on Northern, Avanti West Coast, Caledonian Sleeper and TransPennine Express services. Some trains were terminated short of their destinations, while others were cancelled.

Network Rail engineers have been working through the night to restore the circuits.

Northern trains are able to run via St Helens Central again, but other services were not expected to be fully restored until after 09.00.

Network Rail North West’s route director Phil James said: ‘This is an appalling act of criminal vandalism and I am sorry for the disruption that passengers have faced today. Our teams are hard at work making repairs which are very complex due to the nature of this vandalism. While this work carries on, train journeys across the North West and on the West Coast Mainline will continue to be disrupted. We are working closely with the train operators to provide what service while the necessary and complicated repair continues.’

TransPennine Express managing director Chris Jackson added: ‘It’s really disappointing to, once again, see so many of our customers’ journeys impacted by attempted cable theft. As an industry we have worked hard to tackle this issue and will continue to work together to support British Transport Police in any subsequent investigations. I’d like to thank our customers for their ongoing patience as we do all we can to keep them on the move, and call on anyone planning to travel to check carefully for any changes to their journeys.’

What do you think? Click here to let us know.