3 weeks ago
Power Failure Sparks Second Day of North-West England Rail Disruption
Trains in the north-west of England had a very difficult two days.
On Thursday, the electricity went out at a building that controls the signals trains use.
Without the signals, train drivers could not know when it was safe to move.
So many trains were delayed, and some were cancelled.
The problem was still causing trouble on Friday morning.
Lots of different train companies were affected, like Avanti West Coast, Northern and TransPennine Express.
Workers from Network Rail stayed up all night to fix the signalling system.
They said most trains were running again, but people should check before they travel.
Trains might still be late or cancelled until lunchtime.
An old bomb from the war was also found near the railway, which made things even harder on Thursday.
A power failure hit the signalling centre controlling the railway network in north-west England, causing a second day of disruption on Friday.
The outage occurred shortly before 2pm on Thursday and caused widespread delays and cancellations.
Affected operators included Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, Northern, TransPennine Express, Transport for Wales, CrossCountry and London Northwestern Railway.
National Rail said trains were running again but delays were expected until around noon, with services across Greater Manchester and north-west England possibly cut or cancelled.
A wartime bomb found near the railway between Tamworth and Burton-on-Trent added to Thursday's disruption.
- Who
- Rail passengers, train operators including Avanti West Coast and Northern, and Network Rail engineers
- What
- A power failure at the railway signalling centre caused widespread delays and cancellations
- Where
- North-west England and Greater Manchester
- When
- Outage shortly before 2pm on Thursday, with disruption continuing into Friday morning
- Why
- The power outage knocked out the signalling centre controlling the railway network
Key facts
- Incident
- Power failure hit the signalling centre controlling the railway network
- Outage began
- Shortly before 2pm on Thursday
- Affected region
- North-west England and Greater Manchester
- Affected operators
- Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, Northern, TransPennine Express, Transport for Wales, CrossCountry, London Northwestern Railway
- Status on Friday
- Trains running again but delays expected until around noon
- Travel advice
- Northern advised no travel before 10am; TransPennine Express warned of delays before midday
- Response
- Network Rail engineers worked through the night to restore signalling systems
- Additional disruption
- A wartime bomb found near the railway between Tamworth and Burton-on-Trent
Quotes
Chris Wright
North‑west route director at Network Rail
“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. 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.”
easterneye.biz
Sources
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