A major railway line in Greater Manchester has been closed after a car driven by a suspected drink-driver crashed on to train tracks.
Images from the scene show the vehicle came to a rest upside down and surrounded by debris on the tracks in Salford, causing major disruption to train services between Manchester and Liverpool on Friday morning.
Greater Manchester police said the driver of the car was arrested on suspicion of drink-driving.
No other vehicles were involved in the incident, which happened at Regent Road roundabout.
Train services operated by Northern, TransPennine Express and Transport for Wales were affected.
A Network Rail spokesperson said: “In the early hours of this morning, a car crashed on to the railway near Regents Road roundabout in Salford causing significant damage to the railway and overhead electric cables that provide power to trains.
“As a result of this incident, no trains are able to run on the Chat Moss line between Liverpool Lime Street and Manchester Piccadilly, impacting Transport for Wales, TransPennine Express and Northern train services.
“Our engineers are on site working with the British Transport Police to remove the vehicle from the tracks and are assessing the situation in order to repair the damaged cables as quickly as possible. However, the line is expected to be closed for the majority of the day.”
Network Rail apologised to affected passengers and urged anyone intending to travel between Liverpool and Manchester on Friday to plan ahead and check with their train operator for the latest information.
