Travel chaos as Manchester trains cancelled and packed out station 'shut down' after flooding

There was travel chaos on Thursday night (December 5) after lines became blocked due to flooding on the network. Some services to Manchester were cancelled due to flooding between Preston and Bolton.

Northern said trains running between Preston and Bolton were cancelled. It is thought the worst of the flooding hit the railway lines close to Adlington.

Passengers were instead advised to travel via Wigan where possible, with bus replacement services offered instead. As of 8pm, nine services from Manchester Airport had been cancelled, affecting various stops in Manchester and Lancashire.

READ MORE Heavy rain hits Manchester with 'act now' flood warnings in place ahead of severe Met Office alert

Pictures taken from Oxford Road station showed huge crowds of stranded passengers at the barrier. One passenger described the scenes as 'chaos', after a string of services were suddenly cancelled.

"I got on the train at Piccadilly and it was fine. Then we got to Oxford Road and it was saying this is where the train terminates. We were all confused," she said.

"There was an announcement which said 'we are cancelling the train due to flooding at Adlington' and to just wait around. We stood for around 20 minutes and then they gave another update saying trains were cancelled.

"It got to about 6pm and they said no passengers were being let into the station because of the amount of passengers on the platform trying to get back up north. They shut the station down, and then they were cancelling all the trains. There were so many people on Oxford Road on their phones who didn't know what to do. It was pretty chaotic."

Northern said: "Northern ticket holders have acceptance on: Northern services between Bolton and Wigan. Avanti and Northern services between Wigan and Preston. Any ticket restrictions have been lifted during this disruption.

"Journey times may be extended by up to 60 minutes whilst travelling by Rail Replacement transport. We apologise for the delay to these services and the additional time this may add to your journey today."

Elsewhere, trains to Manchester were also cancelled or severely delayed following a landslip. During a routine inspection overnight on Tuesday, December 3, embankment damage was found between Polesworth and Atherstone.

Network Rail said engineers were called to the site and were 'working hard to assess the scale of the damage', monitor the situation and put a plan in place to complete the necessary repairs.

It came as heavy rain and wind battered the region and parts of the UK on Thursday. The Met Office issued major amber and yellow weather alerts from Thursday until Sunday (December 8).