Train commuters in Merseyside are set to face further disruption this week.
Lines across the region’s rail network were heavily impacted on Wednesday due to various issues which saw replacement bus services widely deployed.
But Merseyrail has warned that the threat of an extended cold snap means that Thursday’s early service will be delayed heading into Thursday morning.
The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning for the North West region with more ice and forecast to hit overnight in sub-zero temperatures.
As part of their ‘cold weather plan’, Merseyrail will run Thursday’s first services of the day without customers to deal with potential ice on the tracks
Greg Suligowski, head of communications at Merseyrail, said: “The plan worked well on Tuesday morning, with customer services able to run normally after first services were cancelled and used to ensure it was safe to do so.
“We believe this approach will help avoid some of the challenges with ice on the rails we saw this morning.
“Merseyrail and Network Rail teams will once again be out during the night, working hard to reduce the impact the forecasted weather has on the network.
“I’d encourage anyone wanting to travel on early morning services tomorrow to check for the latest updates before heading to the station.”