Train passengers face further travel chaos on Friday morning after a power outage ground trains to a halt across the Midlands and north-west England.
The 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, shortly before 2pm on Thursday, causing widespread cancellations and delays.
Engineers working through the night
Engineers are making “good progress” fixing signalling issues, but there will be cancellations for the rest of the night, Network Rail said. Further disruption on Friday is likely because many trains and their crew “are not where they would normally be after this unexpected incident”, it added.
Chris Wright, Network Rail’s North West route director, said: “I’m extremely sorry for the disruption today and the very difficult journeys many people have experienced. Our engineers are working tirelessly to restore the signalling systems impacted by the power cut at lunchtime.”
Operators advise against travel
Train operators Northern and TransPennine Express (TPE) advised customers on Thursday afternoon not to travel, with the latter saying its trains were “unable to run safely” because of a failure in the communications systems on the network.
Andrew McClements, customer experience and transformation director at TPE, said “sadly, we’re not out of the woods yet” following the “difficult incident to manage”. He urged people to check National Rail Enquiries before setting off on any planned journeys on Friday, with further cancellations and delays likely. TPE relaxed ticket restrictions for the whole day, allowing those with advance tickets to travel at any time.
Apologies and warnings
The chief operating officer of Northern, Warrick Dent, apologised to all affected customers, saying: “We know how frustrating it is to have your journey delayed, cancelled, or disrupted, and I’m sorry for the impact this has had on people’s day. Our teams have been working hard alongside Network Rail and other train operators to keep customers moving and informed throughout. The scale of today’s disruption means customers travelling through Manchester tomorrow morning should also check before they travel, as some knock-on delays may continue.”
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said on Thursday afternoon that she is “receiving regular updates” while Network Rail works to resolve the “power outage”. She added: “Disruption is expected during the rest of the day, so please check before you travel.”
Background and additional incidents
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.
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, requiring an extended 12-hour closure 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: “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.”
Passenger frustrations
Passengers and worried relatives contacted National Rail with their frustrations over how to complete their journeys. One passenger, 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, stuck in Manchester, said it had been “chaos at Piccadilly”, while concern about his pregnant wife in Manchester prompted another man to ask how she would get to Lytham St Annes amid the cancellations. Another man wrote that his 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?”
