The resumption of normal rail services was expected by Monday morning on the West Coast Main Line, which had been closed due to a plane crashing into power lines on Friday.

Services on the Glasgow to London route were disrupted significantly at the weekend, after a small plane crashed into power lines adjacent to the tracks on Friday, killing three on board.

The plane’s pilot, Alan Matthews, and the two passengers on board, Nick and Emma O’Brien, died in the crash. The passengers, who were married last summer, leave two sons, aged 10 years and 18 months.

Thousands of passengers were left struggling to find an alternate way home after the New Year holiday. Network Rail officials said that full service should be resumed by early Monday morning.

Delays built up along the busy route over the weekend. Passengers travelling between London and Glasgow were forced to use alternate routes, adding hours to their journey. The disruptions came just weeks after the new London Euston to Glasgow Central route was unveiled – boasting a travel time of 4hrs 15mins.

On Sunday afternoon, after the Air Accidents Investigation Branch completed their investigation, the line was handed back to Network Rail by the British Transport Police.

A spokesperson for Virgin Trains, which operates services between England and Scotland along the west coast, said that diversionary timetables were in operation as work and testing was being completed.