Rail passengers across the Midlands and North West are facing further disruption today after a brief but significant power failure at a key Manchester signalling centre brought trains to a standstill yesterday, forcing evacuations, stranding commuters, and prompting warnings from several operators to avoid travel this morning.
Train passengers across the Midlands and north-west England face continued disruption today following a power outage that halted services yesterday afternoon. The failure struck the Manchester Rail Operating Centre near Ashburys station, one of Network Rail’s key signalling hubs controlling large sections of the region’s railway network. Although the outage lasted only around 90 seconds, at approximately 2pm, it triggered widespread cancellations and delays that are expected to continue on some routes throughout today. Northern Rail has advised passengers to avoid travelling before 10am while disruption clears.
Why a 90-second fault caused hours of disruption
The brevity of the power failure belies the scale of disruption it caused. Modern railway signalling systems are designed to default to their safest state during any loss of power, automatically setting signals to danger, shown as red, until engineers can confirm that routes are safe to reopen. As a result, even a momentary interruption at the Manchester Rail Operating Centre was enough to bring trains across the network to a halt while systems were safely reset and verified.
The centre itself was opened as part of Network Rail’s wider programme to modernise railway signalling, replacing dozens of older, localised signal boxes with a smaller number of regional operating centres. Investigators are now expected to examine the cause of the interruption to establish whether it stemmed from an electrical fault, equipment failure, or an external issue affecting the control centre.
Which operators were affected
The outage disrupted services run by several operators, including Northern, Avanti West Coast, TransPennine Express, Transport for Wales, East Midlands Railway and CrossCountry. Knock-on delays have persisted even after power was restored, largely because trains and crews were left out of position by the sudden halt.
Northern Rail has asked passengers to avoid travelling before 10am this morning while disruption continues, and TransPennine Express has warned of a reduced service as trains and crew return to their normal positions. Avanti West Coast reported “some short-notice cancellations on our network” today, adding: “trains are likely to be busy, so please do check before you travel.” Transport for Wales and East Midlands Railway have both confirmed that passengers holding tickets for travel yesterday can use them today at no extra cost.
Overnight recovery effort
Network Rail said its engineers worked through the night to restore signalling systems and reposition displaced trains at nearby depots, enabling operators to restart services this morning. Chris Wright, Network Rail’s North West route director, said: “I’d like to thank passengers for their patience following yesterday’s power outage and the disruption it caused across the North West. 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.”
He added: “While some passengers 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.”
Passengers describe evacuation and long delays
The outage caused significant disruption for thousands of commuters yesterday, with passengers on one train in Manchester having to be evacuated from the tracks. Some passengers said they were advised to get taxis, while others were left stranded at stations for more than 90 minutes.
Among those affected, a heavily pregnant woman told Sky News she had been forced to pay an “extortionate amount of money for an Uber” in order to reach a midwife appointment on time. A number of other passengers and worried relatives contacted National Rail during the disruption seeking guidance on how to complete their journeys.
Passengers whose journeys were delayed may be entitled to compensation under individual operators’ Delay Repay schemes, with eligibility depending on the length of the delay and the specific train company involved.
Separate disruption in South Wales
The North West outage was unrelated to separate, ongoing disruption in South Wales, where services between Newport and Cardiff Central have continued to be affected following damage to signalling equipment and overhead electric power lines caused by a trackside fire last weekend.
Network Rail said engineers “worked through the night to restore signalling systems” in South Wales as well, with full signalling restored late yesterday evening. The company said it was “sorry to passengers whose journeys have been disrupted and would like to thank customers for their patience while engineers worked to recover the railway.” Some TransPennine Express services remained affected today as trains and crew continued returning to their normal positions following that separate incident.
