LIVE: Trains cancelled and delayed as emergency services respond to incident - updates

Commuters heading to Manchester are being warned to expect delays and cancellations this morning following an emergency on the railway line. National Rail says emergency services are responding to an incident between Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield.

Services from Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, London Northwestern Railway and Northern are all affected. Manchester Piccadilly's arrivals board shows a number of services either cancelled or delayed as a result of the incident this morning (January 17).

A National Rail spokesperson said: "The emergency services are dealing with an incident between Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield / Crewe. To allow them to safely carry out their work, all lines between these stations are currently closed.

"Trains may be cancelled, delayed or revised. This is expected until 09:00."

Further details about the nature of the incident are yet to be confirmed. Updates will be posted in this blog when they are available.

This is a live event. Follow the latest updates below.

The following routes for Manchester passengers have been affected by the incident:

Elsewhere, these routes are also impacted:

London Northwestern Railway between Stafford and Crewe

Railway lines have been closed while emergency services work at the scene.

A National Rail spokesperson said:

"The emergency services are dealing with an incident between Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield / Crewe.

"To allow them to safely carry out their work, all lines between these stations are currently closed.

"Trains may be cancelled, severely delayed by up to 60 minutes, revised or diverted.

"Major disruption is expected until 11:00."

National Rail now says services may be cancelled or disrupted due to the emergency