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An incident is currently ongoing at Southport Station after reports of a 'train fault'.
In a tweet Merseyrail said: "Due to a possible tack fault in the Southport area, services on the Southport line are currently meeting with delay. More info to follow."
Video footage posted by Sandgrounder Radio appears to show flames inside the station, this has not however been confirmed by the emergency services.
We'll be bringing you the very latest updates, pictures and video on this breaking news story.
Watching that certainly made me think electrical rather than fire but I've a few questions not specific to this I'm hoping someone can help me understand.
Does this sort of thing actually cause any damage - or is it just cut power briefly and swap out a fairly cheap insulator and up and running again?
Am I right in thinking there was no actual fire and just some discharging?
I used to work with high voltage but low current kit (Geiger tubes) and had to take precautions with cleanliness and shape to avoid coronal discharge, is it the same with third rail or a distances between conductors/ground big enough?
I've no railway experience, other than we used to live next to an SR electrified line. One morning, a platelayer triggered a short circuit, presumably with his hammer. There was no apparent fire, but the running (I think, it's over 50 years ago) rail was buckled. A very low speed limit was in force for a few days until the rail was replaced.
As Southport is a terminus, a speed limit should have minimal effect, especially if an alternative platform can be used.
I would expect the insulators to be designed for some surface contamination. Such contamination would increase the risk of a fire.
I've just come back from Birkdale on the 15:14, and found on arrival at Southport that if I hadn't already heard about this incident, I would never have suspected it. My train ran into platform 1, and both platforms 2 and 3 were in use and occupied, so I couldn't see the track; but as it was in use, the damage must have been quickly repaired. There were no signs of a fire to be seen - no scorch or smoke marks, and no cracked roof glazing.
It's probably not related, but last Sunday and the Sunday before NR employees were spraying the sleepers on the Northern side of the station with a white liquid, presumably a solvent to remove oil deposits. I didn't see them working on the electric side of the station (wall siding and platforms 1 to 3).
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Added on 5.5.21: It's reported in today's (Wednesday)local paper the Champion, that the cause of the fire was that strong winds blew a tree branch on to the live rail on platform 1
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