UMVA has learned that a towering lorry slammed into a railway bridge on the West Coast Main Line, sending a massive section crashing down between Nuneaton and Rugby.
The sudden impact ripped through the structure, forcing all trains on the nation’s busiest corridor to divert through Birmingham as engineers scramble to assess the damage.
Commuters bound for London Euston now face a nightmare of cancellations and delays, with Avanti West Coast, London Northwestern Railway and Lumo services thrown into chaos.
National Rail warns that many journeys could be postponed by up to an hour, and that the disruption may linger well beyond the expected 5 p.m. deadline on Friday.
Network Rail engineers are on the scene, inspecting the twisted wreckage while urging drivers to double‑check vehicle heights and loads to prevent further assaults on fragile infrastructure.
Passengers are urged to monitor operator updates, as services may start or terminate at either side of Nuneaton or Rugby, and alternative routes via Birmingham will be employed wherever possible.
According to information obtained by UMVA, the bridge collapse has crippled routes linking Glasgow, Blackpool, Preston, Holyhead, Wrexham, Chester, Liverpool, Manchester, Crewe, Wolverhampton and London, as well as lines from Crewe through Northampton to London.
The fallout leaves thousands stranded on the eve of the weekend, turning what should be a smooth ride into an unpredictable odyssey across the Midlands.
