Preston station re-opens after chaos for Wigan rail commuters

The fire alarms sounded at the station at around 8.40am today, with people asked to leave the building.

No trains were unable to run from Preston and commuters were unable to get from Wigan North Western station due to services being cancelled.

The fault was fixed at around lunchtime with the station re-opening, although Avanti West Coast warned that services would still be impacted into this afternoon.

A spokesman said: “The engineer has resolved the fault and the station has reopened. We are sorry for the delays caused this morning.

“Customers should expect delays and some cancellations for the rest of the afternoon as services look to get back to normal.”

A British Transport Police spokesman said officers attended Preston station and were on scene to support staff.

Passengers told the Wigan Post of the chaos on their way to work.

One passenger, who was trying to get to work to Preston, said: "I've been stranded for about an hour.

"I'm currently having to work in the station cafe and other passengers from Wigan have been hit also.

"It's chaos."

Replacement buses have also been in operation, with Coastal Coaches, Tyrers and Sline running stranded passengers to other stations.