A major power failure in Manchester has brought train services to a standstill across the Midlands, north-west England, and Greater Manchester, causing severe delays and cancellations until at least the end of the day, according to National Rail.
Signalling failure at Manchester Piccadilly
Network Rail reported that the power outage occurred shortly before 2pm, leading to widespread signalling issues across the network. CrossCountry Trains confirmed the fault was located at Manchester Piccadilly station.
Following the failure, train operators Northern and TransPennine Express urged passengers not to 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."
Passengers advised to check before travelling
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she is "receiving regular updates" while Network Rail works to resolve what she described as a "power outage". She added: "Disruption is expected during the rest of the day, so please check before you travel."
Services across TransPennine Express's entire network will be cancelled and delayed, it said. An electrical fault at Manchester Piccadilly also halted trains in April, requiring an extended 12-hour closure for repairs due to the "complex area where this took place, with over 400 metres of damaged lines", Network Rail said at the time.
Major disruption expected until end of day
A National Rail spokesperson said of the latest incident: "This is expected to cause major disruption until the end of the day." Passengers travelling with Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, London Northwestern, Northern, TransPennine Express, or Transport for Wales in the affected area may face cancellations, delays, or revised services.
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."
