CrossCountry cancels 'almost all' UK services after power cut

Breaking news from the markets: CrossCountry cancels 'almost all' UK services after power cutImage source, CrossCountryImage caption, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was concerned to hear about the outageByAlice Cullinaneat New Street Station, BirminghamPublished23 August 2026Trains across the UK have been cancelled by rail operator CrossCountry after a power cut at its control centre. The power outage started in Birmingham on Saturday and as a result, many of the systems used to manage the railway are unavailable, the operator said. Cancellations are affecting most routes, from Glasgow to Penzance and Leeds to Manchester, until further notice because of "significant and unforeseen disruption", said CrossCountry, ranked Britain's worst rail operator, in June.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was "concerned to hear about a power outage" and had asked publicly owned operators to provide "extra services where possible". "We've also sent Network Rail power teams who are onsite and working to restore power and systems as soon as possible," she added. Passengers are venting their anger on social media, saying the situation is the "worst case scenario" at the weekend, with some taking coaches before continuing their train journey with another operator.

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Major routes between Manchester and Birmingham, which passes through Stoke-on-Trent, Coventry and Wolverhampton, along with routes from Leeds to York, Cheltenham to Cardiff and Glasgow to Edinburgh, are all affected. CrossCountry confirmed tickets for Sunday would remain valid until Wednesday. One user on X asked the operator if the situation would be resolved on Monday.

It responded: "We would hope so, but at the moment we have no further updates. "'Frustrating and unacceptable'Fans travelling to football fixtures have been warned that services to and from Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle might be "extremely busy". Reese Proctor described the cancellations as "frustrating and unacceptable" as he tried to get to Manchester's Etihad Stadium in time for a 14:00 BST kick-off against Bournemouth.

He had hoped to get a train from Reading to Manchester, but instead resorted to driving more than 100 miles to his friend's house in Leicester before driving on to the stadium. The 22-year-old told Newsbeat the drive had added an extra two hours to his journey, leaving him "fuming". "If I couldn't drive, or have to drive...

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I wouldn't have been able to go to the match. That would have been a waste of a match ticket," he said. Image source, Reese ProctorImage caption, Reese Proctor managed to get a lift with his friends when his trains to Manchester were cancelled Another passenger, posting on X, said: "A massive thank you to Cross Country Trains for cancelling my train this morning to Birmingham.

You are truly not fit for service. You have also cancelled my train coming back but that is immaterial.

Financial markets are tracking the development closely as investors assess the likely impact.