Power failure at Network Rail operations centre causes train disruption
A power failure at a Network Rail operations centre caused major train disruptions across northwest England and the Midlands, affecting services.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
A power failure at Network Rail's operations centre in Manchester caused severe disruption to train services across northwest England and the Midlands, stranding passengers for hours and triggering cancellations that lasted into the following day. The fault, which began at around 2pm on Thursday, knocked out the signalling systems that control train movements across a wide area. All trains were brought to a halt as signals failed, with many left waiting at stations or stuck on carriages for lengthy periods. Network Rail said the power cut lasted just 90 seconds, but the impact was far longer because backup systems did not kick in as expected. This delayed the restoration of safe running and left many trains and crew out of position. The disruption affected services run by multiple operators, including Avanti West Coast, Northern, TransPennine Express, East Midlands Railway, CrossCountry, Transport for Wales, London North Western and Lumo. Northern and TransPennine Express advised passengers not to travel at all in the affected area. Others said people should check before setting out and might need to use alternative routes. Passengers described scenes of confusion and frustration. One woman, Sarah Nelson, said she had been stuck at Horwich Parkway near Bolton for hours after setting off from Blackpool. Another passenger, Connor Knowles, a flight attendant, said he was trying to reach Manchester Airport but faced delays. At Liverpool Lime Street, families on school holiday trips found themselves stranded, with some forced to pay for taxis or miss onward connections. Network Rail engineers worked through the night to repair the systems and restore services. By Friday morning, most services had resumed, but some delays and cancellations remained, particularly around Manchester and the northwest. The company said it had added extra resilience to prevent a repeat and had launched an investigation into why the backup power supply was slow to engage. The RMT union claimed there was no working backup supply, a point Network Rail did not directly confirm. The Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, said she was receiving regular updates and apologised to affected passengers. The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Bev Craig, demanded reassurances that such an outage would not happen again. Rail experts noted that the move to centralise signalling operations in large regional centres means any failure has a much wider impact than in the past. One expert said the safety systems had worked as designed, bringing trains to a stand, but questioned the resilience of the centralised approach. By Friday afternoon, services were largely back to normal, though some residual delays were expected into the evening. Passengers were advised to check before travelling and allow extra time for their journeys.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Channel 5 | BBC News | BBC One | Channel 4 | ITV | Sky News |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A power failure at Network Rail's operations centre in Manchester at 2pm caused a signalling shutdown. | · | |||||
| Northern Rail issued a 'do not travel' advisory for the affected area. | · | · | · | |||
| Disruption continued into a second day, with National Rail warning services could be affected until the end of Friday. | · | · | · | · | ||
| The power failure affected seven to eight train companies. | · | · | · | · | ||
| The power outage affected 400 postcodes in the area. | · | · | · | · | ||
| Avanti West Coast restored trains to Macclesfield and London and offered full refunds for cancelled trains. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| Delays eased to about 10-15 minutes in some places, but disruption was expected to persist until the end of the day. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| Network Rail rebooted the system, but there was a significant knock-on effect. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| Northern advised customers to avoid travelling before 10am on Friday. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| Problems worsened because there was a delay to backup systems kicking in. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| Trains were in the wrong locations to run the normal timetable the next morning. | · | · | · | · | · | |
| Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander expressed sympathy and said she is receiving updates. | · | · | · | · | · |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky News focused on the scale of the disruption, with travel correspondent Simon Calder giving practical advice and later a live report from Manchester Piccadilly. The channel highlighted the centralisation of rail control and the failure of backup systems, including criticism from the RMT union.
- “The power went off in the network operations centre that Network Rail has in the Manchester area at two o'clock today. And as a result of that, well, signalling basically shut down.”
- “There are no lengths to which people won't go. Let's take him for every penny he's got.”
- “The fact that it was even considered dangerous on those trains, if this is part of our infrastructure to help us get off the roads and into public transport, then obviously having the infrastructure to allow us to get home one time, get into work, is critical for this to happen.”
BBC ONE West provided extensive on-the-ground coverage with interviews from stranded passengers, a detailed explanation of the technical fault, and updates from correspondents at affected stations. The tone was factual and sympathetic to travellers, with a focus on the human impact and the investigation into what went wrong.
- “It's incredibly frustrating because not only have I spent the entire afternoon wasting it just sat at a station, but I've lost the money for the client and potentially some goodwill as well.”
- “We've got to really understand what's gone wrong here because clearly something has and we've got to make sure we investigate that thoroughly to understand why things haven't restored as we would have expected.”
- “Just 90 seconds without power but hours of chaos as a result.”
Channel 4 delivered a concise, newsroom-based summary of the disruption, listing the affected operators and advising passengers to check before travel. The focus was on the practical impact and the ongoing recovery, with less emphasis on passenger interviews or political reaction.
- “A power failure in Manchester has affected a key communication centre putting vital operational controls out of action.”
- “Train companies said it meant they couldn't run services safely.”
- “Northern and Trans Pennine Express have advised people not to travel at all.”
ITV1 focused on the ongoing disruption into the evening and the potential for morning delays. They included an interview with Network Rail's Chris Wright and a statement from the Mayor of Greater Manchester demanding reassurances. The tone was concerned about the wider implications for passengers and the railway's reliability.
- “Trained services in northwest England that were in chaos. This afternoon and this evening could still be disrupted in the morning, Network Rail said tonight.”
- “All the traffic lights were on green at the same time, which is clearly an issue when you have trains travelling at high speed.”
- “The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Bev Craig, is tonight demanding reassurances that this won't happen again.”
BBC News (the rolling news channel) focused on the second day of disruption, reporting that services were still affected in the morning. The coverage highlighted the ongoing inconvenience and the advice from Northern to avoid travel before 10am, as well as Network Rail's statement on recovery.
- “A second day of delays and disruption for passengers as services across the northwest struggled to get back to normal following yesterday's major power outage.”
- “Every train has been delayed then cancelled, delayed then cancelled for at least five hours now I think, four or five hours.”
- “With crews and trains now in the wrong locations, National Rail is warning passengers in the greater Manchester area and the northwest that services are likely to be affected until the end of Friday.”
5 News provided a brief, factual update on the ongoing disruption, noting that trains were in wrong locations and advising passengers to check before travel. The coverage was short and focused on the practical situation without extensive analysis.
- “Rail passengers in the north-west and greater Manchester are facing yet more disruption today.”
- “It follows a 90-second power failure in Manchester yesterday, which affected a communications centre.”
- “This morning, a lot of trains were in the wrong locations to run the normal timetable.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.