Jump to contentIndependentSwipe for next articleIndependent Bulletin homepageDownload our appAllNewsSportCultureLifestylePol Allingham & Harriette BoucherFriday 07 August 2026 00:10 BSTCommuters hit with travel chaos after power failureA power failure at a Network Rail operating centre in Manchester caused widespread disruption across the rail network in the Midlands, Greater Manchester and northwest England on Thursday.Hundreds of travellers faced significant delays and cancellations, with train operators like Northern and TransPennine Express advising customers not to travel due to communication system failures.The outage affected numerous companies, including Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway and Transport for Wales.Transport secretary Heidi Alexander expressed regret, and Network Rail confirmed the affected facility was one of 12 designed to manage the British rail network.Further disruption is anticipated for Friday morning, with passengers urged to check National Rail Enquiries before travelling; a wartime bomb discovery also added to the day's issues.In fullFurther disruption expected after Manchester power failure causes travel 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