National Rail said a power failure at a communications centre was disrupting services across the Midlands and north-west England on Thursday. The issue affected Avanti West Coast, East Midlands, Northern, TransPennine Express and Transport for Wales, with some trains cancelled, delayed by up to 60 minutes or rescheduled.
One train from Manchester Piccadilly to London at 13:30 was cancelled, while an earlier service at 13:14 was used instead. National Rail first flagged the disruption on X around 14:18 BST and said it covered Greater Manchester, the Midlands and North West of England.
Manchester Piccadilly and London
A train carrying passengers stopped outside Manchester and later stopped again at Macclesfield, adding to the disruption already building on the route. The cancelled 13:30 service and the earlier 13:14 departure show how quickly the timetable was being altered as the fault spread across several operators.
National Rail later said disruption in the Greater Manchester area, Midlands and North West of England was expected until at least 16:00, then extended that to the end of Thursday. The operator also said rail replacement transport had not been arranged at that time, leaving passengers to rely on delayed, cancelled or rescheduled trains.
Avanti West Coast and Transport for Wales
The scale of the problem went beyond one route. National Rail said Avanti West Coast, East Midlands, Northern, TransPennine Express and Transport for Wales were all among the companies affected, which is why the disruption touched services across more than one region on the same day.
The remaining issue is the fault itself: National Rail said only that it came from an electricity supply failure at a communications centre. For passengers, that means the service pattern could keep changing through Thursday, but no replacement transport was in place when the disruption was announced.
