National rail disruption live: Commuters told ‘do not travel’ as Manchester power failure causes severe delays and chaos
Services affected by the disruption include Avanti West Coast, East Midlands, Northern, TransPennine Express and Transport for Wales
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Train operators have told passengers to completely avoid travel, as a power failure in Manchester causes disruption across a large swathe of the rail network.
Northern rail and TransPennine Express “strongly advised” their customers against commuting, saying there were no replacement buses available for them.
East Midlands Railway said passengers would be unable to travel between Sheffield and Liverpool Lime Street.
Stranded passengers are facing two-hour delays and cancellations across Greater Manchester and the northwest of England.
National Rail expects the disruption to continue until the end of the day as it works to fix an electricity supply failure at one of its communications centres.
Companies affected by the disruption include Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, London Northwestern Railway, Lumo, Northern, TransPennine Express, and Transport for Wales.
Transport secretary Heidi Alexander wrote on X: “I am sorry to hear passengers in the North West are affected by a power outage, with trains cancelled or delayed. I am receiving regular updates while Network Rail works to resolve the issue.”
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Several trains cancelled from Manchester Victoria station
Harriette Boucher6 August 2026 20:05
'Major disruption' in southern Wales until tomorrow night
Major disruption is expected on the rail network in southern Wales until 8pm on Friday.
National Rail said this is due to a fire next to the track between Newport and Cardiff Central over the weekend.
Affected routes include the CrossCountry between Nottingham and Cardiff Central.
Great Western Railway between London Paddington and Swansea, Carmarthen, and also between Taunton, Exeter St Davids, Portsmouth Harbour and Cardiff Central are also affected.
Transport for Wales between Manchester Piccadilly and Pembroke Dock, Milford Haven, Fishguard Harbour, and between Holyhead, Chester, Cheltenham Spa and Cardiff Central, and also between Newport and Ebbw Vale Town, are disrupted too.
ℹ️ #Newport - Reduced service between Newport (South Wales) and Cardiff Central: major disruption is expected until at least the end of the day on Friday 7 August
— National Rail (@nationalrailenq) August 6, 2026Harriette Boucher6 August 2026 19:48
Power outage took place near Ashbury railway station
The power failure that caused mass disruption across the rail network took place at Network Rail's Manchester Rail Operating Centre (ROC), the company said.
The centre is located near Ashbury's railway station and was opened at 2014.
It is one of 12 centres that manages the entire rail network across Britain.
When it was opened, Network Rail said it would have “more advanced signalling tools and technology that will help reduce delays, improve performance, increase capacity, provide better information to passengers and offer better value for money for passengers and taxpayers.”
Harriette Boucher6 August 2026 19:17
In pictures: Empty train lines at Hunts Cross railway station in Liverpool
Harriette Boucher6 August 2026 19:03
Operators tell passengers 'do not travel'
Several train operators are telling passengers not to travel at all, as several areas remain without replacement buses.
Northern rail has “strongly advised” its customers not to travel, saying its train services are unable to run on multiple lines of route in the northwest.
TransPennine Express has also advised customers against travelling today.
“There is major disruption and no trains or replacement buses are operating and we strongly advise you not to travel,” it said.
East Midlands Railway said passengers would be unable to travel between Sheffield and Liverpool Lime Street.
Harriette Boucher6 August 2026 18:39
Wartime bomb causes further disruption in West Midlands
While thousands of passengers are facing disruption due to power failure in Manchester, West Midland commuters have had their journeys halted by a wartime bomb.
All lines have been blocked between Tamworth and Burton-on-Trent after the World War Two bomb was located near the railway.
“As a result, trains will be cancelled, delayed by up to 60 minutes or revised,” National Rail said.
ℹ️#Tamworth - A wartime bomb near the railway between Tamworth and Burton-on-Trent means all lines will be blocked. As a result, trains will be cancelled, delayed by up to 60 minutes or revised.
— National Rail (@nationalrailenq) August 6, 2026Harriette Boucher6 August 2026 18:21
In pictures: Journeys across country halted by power failure
Harriette Boucher6 August 2026 17:59
Passengers caught up in disruption are 'starting to get cross'
Stranded passengers say they are frustrated by the severe disruption to their journey’s
Bristol teacher Becky, 56, told BBC that she and her synchronised swimming team were likely to miss a performance in Edinburgh because they were stuck in Manchester.
She had been given no further updates from the operator and said commuters were “starting to get cross” and it was “kicking off”.
“There’s another traveller here who’s got a show to go and see tonight in Edinburgh, and he’s looking to see if the four of us could get a car together,” she told the broadcaster.
Sarah Nelson, whose train is stuck at Horwich Parkway, said it was “going to be a nightmare” trying to get home to Blackpool.
She told BBC: “They're saying they will refund us if we get taxis, but in my experience this can be a slow and painful process.
“I'm probably going to see if I can get a bus to a larger station, but I'm really indecisive as I can't work out what's best to do.”
Chris, another passenger stranded in Manchester, described the disruption as “costly, inconvenient... frustrating”.
He told the broadcaster he had “no idea” how he would get home to Edinburgh, saying: “We're still being told there is no power to any of the trains, no electricity, and they don’t expect anything to run today until the end of the day,” he says.
“I will have to get a hotel here and see if I can get home tomorrow.”
Harriette Boucher6 August 2026 17:49
Disruption will raise questions 'about resilience of Network Rail'
Today’s widespread travel disruption will raise questions about the resilience of Network Rail, travel expert Simon Calder said.
“This is not the first time that we've had a big problem involving signalling, which unfortunately brings tens of thousands, probably hundreds of thousands of people's journeys to a halt,” he told Sky News.
He said the disruption will have a “ripple effect” across the whole of the UK, and believes “an inquest is beginning into how there wasn't an immediate switch to a backup system to keep the trains running.
“All that Network Rail is telling me is that it should be fixed by the end of the day, or rather, journeys will be disrupted for the rest of the day.
“Even if everything was kind of back to normal right now in terms of the signalling issues, there would then be a huge knock-on effect because trains and drivers and other crew are in the wrong places, and of course, if you are, for instance, cancelling a train from London to Manchester, then the Manchester to London train will not be able to run.”
Harriette Boucher6 August 2026 17:40
Delays of up to two hours
National Rail has said trains could now be delayed for up to two hours or otherwise cancelled.
It said disruption would continue through the evening as it works to repair the electricity supply failure.
Harriette Boucher6 August 2026 17:37
