Rail pᴀssengers face further chaos after power failure hit trains

Train pᴀssengers face further travel chaos throughout today after a power outage ground trains to a halt across the Midlands and north-west England.

Electricity cut out in the main control hub for north-west England’s railways, the Manchester Rail Operating Centre near Ashburys station in the city’s east.

The 90-second failure at about 2pm yesterday caused widespread cancellations and delays to services that are expected to continue on some routes for the rest of today.

Northern Rail advised all its pᴀssengers to avoid travelling before 10am today while disruption continues, while TransPennine Express warned of a reduced service.

Avanti West Coast reported ‘some short-notice cancellations on our network’ today, adding that ‘trains are likely to be busy, so please do check before you travel’.

Transport for Wales and East Midlands Railway both confirmed that their customers with tickets for travel yesterday were able to use them today at no extra cost.

Separately, there was also major disruption in South Wales today between Newport and Cardiff Central due to ongoing repairs to signalling equipment and overhead electric power that were damaged following a trackside fire last weekend.

Network Rail said engineers ‘worked through the night to restore signalling systems’, with signalling fully restored late yesterday evening. Trains displaced by the incident were returned to nearby depots, allowing operators to restart services this morning.

Pᴀssengers look at the departure boards at London Euston yesterday as trains are cancelled

It was ‘sorry to pᴀssengers whose journeys have been disrupted and would like to thank customers for their patience while engineers worked to recover the railway’.

Bosses added that some TransPennine Express services continued to be affected today as trains and crew returned to their normal positions following the disruption.

Chris Wright, Network Rail’s North West route director, said this morning: ‘I’d like to thank pᴀssengers for their patience following yesterday’s power outage and the disruption it caused across the North West.

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‘Our engineers worked through the night to restore signalling systems and recover the railway, and I’m pleased that most services are now running this morning.

‘While some pᴀssengers may still experience disruption, we’re continuing to work closely with train operators to return services to normal as quickly as possible.

‘Anyone planning to travel this morning should continue to check before they travel for the latest information.’

The chaos brought rail misery for thousands of commuters, with pᴀssengers on a train in Manchester having to be evacuated from the tracks yesterday.

Some caught in the disruption said they were told ‘to get taxis’ with others stranded at stations for more than 90 minutes.

A heavily pregnant woman told Sky News she had to pay an ‘extortionate amount of money for an Uber’ so she could get to her midwife appointment on time.

Other pᴀssengers and worried relatives contacted National Rail with their frustrations over how to complete their journeys yesterday.

Pᴀssengers gather in front of platforms at Manchester Piccadilly railway station yesterday

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One pᴀssenger, who described themselves as ‘stranded in Wigan,’ said they needed a replacement bus service as they had to get home for childcare and asked: ‘Can I reimburse a taxi?’

Another traveller, who was stuck in Manchester, said it had been ‘chaos at Piccadilly’, while concern about his pregnant wife who was in Manchester prompted another man to ask how she would be able to get to Lytham St Annes amid the train cancellations.

Another man wrote that their partner, a ‘single female alone’, was ‘stuck in Liverpool’, after leaving Scunthorpe and asked, ‘Can you provide an update on how she should get home?’

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Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was ‘receiving regular updates’ while Network Rail works to resolve what she described as a ‘power outage’.

The Manchester facility that experienced the outage was one of 12 operating centres built to eventually manage the entire British rail network, Network Rail said when it opened in 2014.

These facilities replaced 800 signal boxes and other operational locations then used to control trains.

It was planned that the Manchester Rail Operating Centre would control all of the railway in north-west England by 2034.

Electricity distribution company SP Electricity North West’s website states that a power cut in Harpurhey, which is north-east of the city centre, affected more than 400 postcodes yesterday, including that of the Manchester Rail Operating Centre.

It said: ‘The power cut in your area caused by an unexpected incident on our high voltage cable has now been resolved.’

A wartime bomb being discovered near the railway between Tamworth and Burton-on-Trent also added to the disruption, with all lines blocked, National Rail said.

Greater Manchester, the Midlands and north-west England bore the brunt of the impact.

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.