Passengers are being urged to check before they travel from London Euston this afternoon as a problem with overhead wires north of Watford means major changes to train times, Jack Simpson writes.

Network Rail said its engineers are on site and working to fix the issue with one of the wires that supplies power to trains on the West Coast Main Line at Bourne End, Buckinghamshire. 

They are working to get at least two of the four tracks through the area opened shortly, to allow an emergency timetable to run. 

Currently, all lines are blocked between London and the north-west including Manchester.

James Dean, Network Rail’s West Coast South route director, said: “I’m sorry to passengers impacted by the overhead lines coming down near Euston station and the major disruption to journeys this is causing. Our team of engineers are onsite and assessing the damage, but it is too early to know what has caused it. Our focus is on fixing the issue as soon as possible.”

A previous issue today, caused by a tree falling on the railway near Newark on the East Coast Main Line, has been fixed and trains are running from King’s Cross, with delays.