The Office of Rail Regulation has launched an investigation into severe rail delays experienced by commuters.

The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) has launched an urgent investigation after over-running engineering works caused severe delays for commuters at Rugby Station and Liverpool Street Station.

The project management and work of Network Rail, the company that runs and maintains Britain’s railways, is at the centre of the ORR’s investigation.

In a similar situation in December 2006, Network Rail was fined £2.4 million by the ORR for the over-running of signalling works in the Portsmouth area. Chris Bolt, ORR Chairman, commented: “It is extremely disappointing to have a repeat of that experience, on key parts of the network.

“In the case of the West Coast works at Rugby, we decided before Christmas that it was in the longer term interests of rail users to allow Network Rail to close the railway for an extra day, on 31 December. Our decision reflected an assurance by Network Rail that this extra time was necessary to complete the works, which are an important part of the programme to enable a new timetable to operate on the West Coast Main Line in December 2008.

“The immediate priority must be to get the railway working again, in order to minimise further disruption to passengers. As part of our investigation, we will review Network Rail’s whole programme for completing the West Coast works in a way which meets the requirements of passenger and freight train operators and of funders.

Virgin Trains, one of the UK’s main long-distance train operators, has welcomed the ORR’s investigation, following its complaint to the organisation that Network Rail had breached the terms of its license to operate the network. Tony Collins, Virgin Trains CEO, said: “This has been a fiasco and our customers expect and deserve better.

“We are pleased that the ORR is investigating this urgently and we must ensure we never have a repeat of the last few days.”

Services at Liverpool Street Station have now resumed, while Rugby Station currently remains closed. Network Rail has apologised to passengers, understanding “how frustrating this situation is for everyone.” It stated that the company is working “around the clock” to get the trains operating again.