A man has been killed after being hit by a train at Manchester's Piccadilly Station in the early hours of this morning.
Thousands of commuters faced rush hour delays and cancellations in the wake of the tragedy at around 4am.
It is believed the man, 31, stepped into the path of a freight train as it passed through platform 13.
Both platforms 13 and 14 were closed to commuters and staff while police investigated the death. Arrivals and departures across the board were delayed or cancelled with many trains stranded miles from Piccadilly while awaiting a change of platform.
Many London trains were either cancelled or delayed. Long queues formed at information desks and ticket counters throughout the station.
One woman waiting for her train said: "We heard a man had been killed after standing in front of a freight train. There are lots of police around and it's very disturbing, everybody is in shock."
Another commuter trying to travel to London this morning said: "I'm heading down for a meeting but my Euston train has been cancelled so I'm in a bit of trouble really. But it is very sad."
A spokesman for British Transport Police said officers were called to Manchester Piccadilly at 4.15am after reports that a man was struck by a train. The death is not being treated as suspicious.
A Network Rail spokeswoman said the platforms were set to open by lunchtime but delays would run in to the afternoon as a knock-on effect. She urged people to check the Network Rail website before travelling.
British Transport Police blocked off the thoroughfare to platforms 13 and 14 where the incident happened, and interviewed witnesses.
A driver from Virgin Trains and a conductor from Transpennine Express services raised the alarm after the incident. Passengers heading for London Euston, Nottingham, Crewe, Middlesbrough, Liverpool and Manchester Airport all faced delays.
You can follow the latest travel information at our live blog below. If you are reading this on a mobile phone, you may get a better service by clicking here .
Showing comments 1 to 20 and replies | View All
tiggerluc, somewhere in shaw (03/02/2010 at 12:08)
Vote for David, tory land (03/02/2010 at 13:30)
PeteL (03/02/2010 at 13:46)
Northen Bird :), Eccles (03/02/2010 at 13:50)
3/02/2010 at 13:30
of course they would close it, they need to investigate it, why does this mean they are power mad?!
very sad story, my thoughts are with the mans family
Traffic Dude (03/02/2010 at 13:51)
O by the way it was British Transport Police.....
Gaz M (03/02/2010 at 14:04)
JTC Formerley JimC (03/02/2010 at 14:10)
My condolences to all involved.
R.I.P. Chap.
stressed out, Manchester (03/02/2010 at 14:39)
3/02/2010 at 13:30
What have GMP got to do with it? The railways are policed by British Transport Police.
Very tragic.
Justin Turner (03/02/2010 at 15:09)
It serves to remind us, surely, that nothing in life can ever be so bad....
Hurry O'Caine - the Irish Whirlind, Typhoon Tipperary (03/02/2010 at 15:16)
"More tories making up statistics on this threads I see!"
No. What statistics, what Tories?
Gaz M (03/02/2010 at 15:30)
Keep up.
Hurry O'Caine - the Irish Whirlind, Typhoon Tipperary (03/02/2010 at 16:29)
Hard to keep up with a random collation of unrelated pap. If you seek mixers up of facts, search no further than Noo Laybah.
Will Scott (03/02/2010 at 18:09)
"Arrivals and departures across the board were delayed or cancelled with many trains stranded miles from Piccadilly while awaiting a change of platform.
Many London trains were either cancelled or delayed. Long queues formed at information desks and ticket counters throughout the station."
The London trains don't go from platform 13. They go from the main terminus, so why were they delayed or cancelled? Oh, because trains which would pass through 14 couldn't, so were blocking thge path of the departing trains. That's the thing about railways. You can't easily nip around another train.
Tram Driver 24 (03/02/2010 at 18:50)
STEPHEN Herring (03/02/2010 at 20:03)
Gerry Gow's jockstrap (04/02/2010 at 00:06)
alfie20, south manchester (04/02/2010 at 10:49)
In a simialr vein a few years ago I was stuck in a 20 mile trafffic jam on the M1 for several hours while the police dealt with a man wondering whether to jump of a bridge or not. The disruption and costs to people must have been horrendous - I'm sure these things can be resolved very quickly - if there was a will to do it - but dithering and indecison seem to be the measure of the day - rather than minimising costs to society
James Salvi (06/02/2010 at 21:43)
R.I.P Mate you will be sadly missed by everybody!!!
luke park (07/02/2010 at 13:45)
Its silly init mate every1 writing these comments about being delayed and debating the train stations layout is wrong you people read a story and take the bits out that concern you, nothing to do with this mans no condolances or anything just about you, you lot make me sick. i spoke 2 this man on a couple of occasions and he was a nice fella wat a terrible way to leave his family and loved ones and also his work colleagues
R.I.P Mate Sorry never got chance to work with you
Luke Manchester
dave thomson (07/02/2010 at 22:29)