A major power failure in Manchester has halted trains and caused massive travel disruption across the Midlands and north-west England until the end of the day
Train services across the Midlands, north-west England and Greater Manchester are facing severe delays and cancellations following an electricity supply failure at a communications centre, according to National Rail. Journeys are expected to be affected until at least the end of the day.
Network Rail reported that the power outage occurred in Manchester shortly before 2pm, resulting in widespread signalling issues across the network.
CrossCountry Trains confirmed that the fault in the signalling system was located at Manchester Piccadilly station. Following the failure, train operators Northern and TransPennine Express urged passengers not to travel.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she is “receiving regular updates” while Network Rail works to resolve what she described as a “power outage”.
Ms Alexander added: “Disruption is expected during the rest of the day, so please check before you travel.”
TransPennine Express said: “All trains will be stopped due to a failure of the communication systems on the network. Trains are unable to run safely.”
Services across its entire network will be cancelled and delayed, it said. An electrical fault at Manchester Piccadilly also halted trains in April.
An extended 12-hour closure of the railway was needed for repairs because of the “complex area where this took place, with over 400 metres of damaged lines”, Network Rail said at the time.
A National Rail spokesperson said of the latest incident: “This is expected to cause major disruption until the end of the day.
“If you’re travelling Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, London Northwestern, Northern, TransPennine Express, or Transport for Wales in the affected area, your train may be cancelled, delayed, or revised.
“Please allow extra time to make your journey this afternoon as you may need to use an alternative route or change trains part-way through to reach your destination.”
Chris Wright, Network Rail North West route director, said: “We’re sorry to passengers impacted by a power issue in Manchester which is causing significant delays to trains through the city.”
Some services are running but major disruption is expected to continue throughout the day, he said.
Mr Wright urged customers to check National Rail Enquiries before travelling and said ticketholders can travel on any Bee Network services.
Andrew McClements, customer experience and transformation director for TransPennine Express, described the impact as significant in Manchester and across its network.
He added: “We’re sorry for the disruption and thank our customers for their patience.”