Delays at Rotherham Central due to fire damage

DELAYS will continue to hit Rotherham Central this afternoon after equipment was fire damaged yesterday, say Northern Rail.

Fire crews from Rotherham and Maltby were called to the railway track adjacent to Kilnhurst Hall Farm on Highthorn Road at 2pm yesterday. 

There were around 20 different seats of fire all along the railway banking, said a spokesman for South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue.

"The line was shut off whilst firefighters extinguished the fire and left the scene by around 3.30pm," he added. 

"The cause of the fire is currently unknown.

"Fire community safety officers will be monitoring the situation and will take steps to make sure it doesn't happen again."

A Northern Rail spokesman said there were delays of up to 15 minutes today on the Rotherham to Wakefield Westgate route, also affecting Meadowhall, Bolton-on-Dearne and Swinton.

Delays are expected to last for most of the afternoon.

Network Rail said the main areas affected included Goldthorpe and the boarder between Rotherham and Sheffield.

"Investigations were carried out and there was a considerable amount of damage to signalling and power cables," said a Network Rail spokeswoman. 

"A normal service is expected to resume from around 3pm this afternoon."

For further information visitt https://www.northernrailway.co.uk