Train passengers travelling to and from Scotland face major disruption after a power cut at CrossCountry’s control centre forced the cancellation of services across almost its entire network.
CrossCountry services linking Scotland with the rest of the UK have been withdrawn, with routes including Glasgow and Edinburgh affected by the outage. The operator warned of “significant reductions to services and cancellations” across almost all routes on Sunday, August 23.
Power cut began in Birmingham
The power outage began in Birmingham on Saturday and has left many of the systems used to manage the railway unavailable. As a result, CrossCountry has withdrawn services across almost its entire network “until further notice”.
The disruption is particularly significant for passengers travelling between Scotland and destinations further south, with CrossCountry operating long-distance services connecting cities including Glasgow and Edinburgh with destinations across England.
Only one route near normal
Services between Peterborough, Cambridge and Stansted Airport are the only part of the network expected to run close to normal, although planned engineering works are also affecting that route.
CrossCountry said: “Services across the CrossCountry network will be significantly disrupted on Sunday 23 August due to a power cut affecting our control centre. Significant reductions to services and cancellations are expected across almost all routes.”
Passengers advised to check journeys
The operator has apologised for the disruption and urged passengers to check their journey before setting off.
Tickets bought for CrossCountry services today can be used on other train operators on the same route. LNER said they were accepting tickets for CrossCountry on its services "until further notice" to help get affected customers to their destinations.
CrossCountry said it was continuing to work to restore services, but has not given a specific time for normal operations to resume.
The company said its service update page would be updated throughout Sunday as more information becomes available. The latest disruption information is available through National Rail Enquiries.
