Thousands of rail passengers experienced significant disruption on Thursday due to a major power failure at a Manchester signalling centre, leading to widespread delays and cancellations across northern England.

The electrical failure occurred just before 2:00 PM BST at the Manchester Rail Operating Centre, part of a broader power supply outage in the Ardwick area. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander confirmed that the disruption was expected to continue for the remainder of the day and advised passengers to check their travel plans.

At least eight rail operators were affected by the outage on Thursday evening. The disruption created a ripple effect, impacting trains beyond the immediate area. Trains traveling north from major hubs like Birmingham New Street and London Euston faced delays and cancellations. Adding to the travel chaos, a wartime bomb discovered near the railway track between Tamworth and Burton-on-Trent temporarily blocked all lines between those stations.

Network Rail stated that the incident and subsequent disruption had concluded. The Manchester Rail Operating Centre, opened in July 2014, controls railway operations, including signalling, across a vast area from Crewe to Carlisle and Todmorden to the Welsh border.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander expressed regret for the inconvenience caused to passengers in the North West. Affected travelers shared accounts of "nightmare journeys." Sarah Nelson, a remedial massage therapist, described a "nightmare five-hour round trip" simply to return home to Blackpool after being unable to reach work in Manchester. Her train was delayed for over 90 minutes.

Chris, a technology consultant traveling from Scotland for business, faced the prospect of booking an "expensive and inconvenient" hotel due to the delays. He noted that "no power to any of the trains" was expected to prevent services from running for the rest of the day, forcing him to postpone his journey home.

Other passengers, like a couple returning from Gibraltar, had to book costly Ubers to reach their homes in Clitheroe, Lancashire, after their planned train journey from Manchester Airport was cancelled. Stacey, a 38-year-old office worker, was among those evacuated from a train that stopped prematurely in Manchester because of the signalling failure.

The source material indicates that the power failure incident and the disruption have since ended. Network Rail confirmed the conclusion of the disruption related to the signalling failure and the wartime bomb discovery.