According to a report by the British news website Sky News on August 23, the UK long-distance railway operator CrossCountry experienced a major disruption in services due to a sudden power outage at its control center. Almost all trains were cancelled or delayed. The company stated that the power failure has been resolved and all services are expected to resume on the 24th. However, passengers are still advised to check for the latest train information before traveling.
The failure occurred at the control center of CrossCountry located in Birmingham city center. A power outage caused the system used to manage the railway network to go offline, and this center is responsible for monitoring train locations and arranging staff shifts. Affected lines include the Birmingham-Manchester line, the Glasgow-Edinburgh line, and the York-Newcastle line. Several long-distance routes had cancellations on that day.
CrossCountry once stated that on the 23rd, “almost all” routes would be affected, and only alternative processes could be used to maintain some train operations. Routes such as those from Edinburgh to Plymouth, Penzance to Leeds, and Nottingham to Cardiff are among the routes that will be cancelled. Other railway operators will continue to operate trains on these routes.
Due to the malfunction occurring on a Sunday when several football matches were held, British Rail warned that other trains heading to Manchester, Liverpool, and Newcastle might be “extremely crowded”.
Many passengers complained on social media about their disrupted travel plans. Some said that the train from York to Birmingham was suddenly cancelled; others questioned the operator about whether they bear any responsibility for the passengers.
CrossCountry indicates that affected passengers can switch to trains of other operators and apply for compensation for delays; those who have given up their travel plans can also get a refund from the original ticket purchasing channel.
It is worth mentioning that in a previous survey conducted by the UK transport watchdog Transport Focus, CrossCountry was rated as the worst-performing railway operator in the UK.
