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Commuters have been warned not to travel north of Preston as multiple services between England and Scotland have been disrupted.
A ‘do not travel’ alert has been issued by rail companies after a freight train derailed on a major route between England and Scotland.
Services are being cancelled and delayed because of the incident on the West Coast Main Line between Carlisle and Oxenholme Lake District on Wednesday night.
Some lines are blocked and a very limited train service is running on the line that remains open, National Rail has said.
TransPennine Express’ travel update said disruption is expected until 6pm today.
Has your journey been affected? Email matthew.cox@mailonline.co.uk
Train operators Avanti West Coast and TransPennine Express have urged passengers not to use their services for journeys between Preston and Scotland on Thursday.
A spokesperson for Avanti said: ‘Do Not Travel north of Preston.
‘Services between between Oxenholme Lake District and Penrith have been cancelled due to a freight train derailment blocking the line.
‘Please do not attempt to travel with us between Preston and Scotland today.
‘Customers with tickets dated yesterday, Wednesday, 29 May and today Thursday, May 30 can use their Avanti West Coast tickets tomorrow, Friday 31 May, at any time via the same route.’
Avanti ticket holders can use their tickets with other operators including LNER between Edinburgh and Kings Cross, CrossCountry between Edinburgh and Birmingham New Street, TransPennine Express (TPE) via any reasonable route and ScotRail between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
All of those apply in both directions until further notice.
TPE added: ‘Due to severe disruption on the West Coast Main Line, customers travelling north of Preston are advised NOT to travel.
‘This is due to an extremely limited train service as well as difficulty in sourcing road transport.’
Impacted ticket holders on TPE routes can travel tomorrow on the same ticket.
Alternatively, today you can use Northern services between Liverpool, Manchester Airport and Preston in both directions or travel via the East Coast on TPE services between Edinburgh and Newcastle and Newcastle and Manchester.
CrossCountry services between Edinburgh and York are also open to TPE ticket holders, as are LNER services between Edinburgh and York and ScotRail services between Glasgow and Edinburgh – but the latter is only available until midday.
Customers who choose not to travel can claim a refund at their point of purchase.
Network Rail has been approached for a comment.