Cows on the line cause Scotland-London rail disruption for thousands of Avanti West Coast and Lumo passengers
West coast route blocked for three hours
Thousands of rail passengers between Scotland and London suffered disruption after a herd of cows escaped onto the west coast main line in Staffordshire on Tuesday.
Analysis by corporate travel firm Good Business Travel for The Scotsman showed 23 trains were disrupted, affecting some 9,000 passengers.
They included at least four Avanti West Coast trains between Glasgow Central and London Euston were cancelled or their journeys truncated with several other delayed by up to 45 minutes.
A Lumo service between Euston and Stirling was also delayed at Nuneaton in Warwickshire.
The alarm was raised shortly before 9am between Lichfield Trent Valley and Rugeley Trent Valley with the line blocked for more than three hours and the disruption expected to last until 4pm.
It is understood there were difficulties contacting the farmer responsible for the animals.
London Northwestern Railway and West Midlands Railway services were also affected.
Tickets were being accepted on certain alternative routes.
The incident comes two days after an 18-year-old male passenger suffered life-threatening injuries when the BMW car he was in collided with cows shortly before midnight on Sunday on the A811 near Gartocharn in West Dunbartonshire.
Two cows died at the scene and a further three had to be euthanised.
Police said the 22-year-old car driver was arrested in connection with a road traffic offence and released pending further enquiries.
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