Jump to contentIndependentSwipe for next articleIndependent Bulletin homepageDownload our appAllNewsSportCultureLifestyleHarriette BoucherThursday 06 August 2026 21:15 BSTPassengers stand with a customer service person inside Manchester Piccadilly train station after a major disruption to rail service in the Midlands and northwest England (Getty)Train operators have warned passengers to completely avoid travel as a power failure in Manchester continues to wreak havoc 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 and East Midlands Railway said passengers would be unable to travel between Sheffield and Liverpool Lime Street.It comes as 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.In fullNational rail disruption live: Commuters told ‘do not travel’ as Manchester power failure causes severe delays and chaosMore bulletinsThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in