THERE were scenes of 'chaos' after a major disruption on the West Coast Main Line meant trains to and from Barrow were cancelled.

A number of trains were unable to run as scheduled on Wednesday evening and yesterday morning after the line between Preston and Lancaster was blocked by a problem with the overhead electric supply cables.

The line reopened yesterday morning, but the first train from Preston to Barrow was cancelled, as were five trains to Manchester airport.

By the early afternoon, only one of the scheduled Manchester airport trains (at 10:46) had successfully departed on time.

Robert Parker, from the Furness Line Action Group, describe the disruption as 'absolute chaos' as passengers lined up to board replacement coaches bound for Carlisle.

Mr Parker said he has even heard of one passenger who realised the wait at Preston would be so long that she ordered an Uber taxi to Lancaster.

He told The Mail: “Again, they bussed people from Preston to Carlisle, which takes three hours, when they could have simply transported passengers to Lancaster where stock trains could have been redirected quite easily.

“That way, passengers, may have only had around an hour added to their journey time rather than upwards of three.”

On social media, disgruntled passengers posted images of queues snaking along Preston station, as replacement bus services struggled to cope with the disruptions caused.

Mr Parker said: “The same response by train operators when a similar incident occurred north of Shap near Oxenholme several years ago. I contacted Virgin at the time to suggest alternative ways of operating, but that the train service branch of the conglomerate group didn’t even reply.”

On the disruptions a spokesperson for Virgin Trains said: “Rail replacement services were in operation in both directions between Preston and Lancaster, and Preston and Carlisle to connect into train services. However, there were a limited number of trains available north of the affected area.”