CrossCountry has announced it will operate a “full service” on Monday following a power failure that caused widespread cancellations throughout its network.
The rail company stated a “very limited” number of trains would operate from approximately 6pm on Sunday, with normal service anticipated to resume on Monday.
A power failure in Birmingham, which began on Saturday, impacted the firm’s control centre, meaning numerous systems utilised to manage the railway were unavailable, the operator confirmed.
“Almost all” services were cancelled on Sunday – including busy routes connecting Glasgow to Edinburgh, Manchester to Birmingham, Cheltenham to Cardiff and Newcastle to Edinburgh.
A near-normal service was operating between Peterborough, Cambridge and Stansted Airport “due to the impact of planned engineering work”, the company stated.
A rail replacement bus service continued as scheduled between Leicester and Peterborough.
A CrossCountry spokesperson said on Sunday evening: “Our key priority is now to restore as close to a normal service as possible for our customers tomorrow.
“With most facilities now reinstated, we are planning to operate a very limited number of services from around 6pm this evening, primarily on routes towards Leicester and Derby.
“Planning is underway to support a full train service on Monday and we are working closely with National Grid and industry partners as recovery efforts continue.
“We would like to thank our customers for their patience and understanding during today’s disruption.”
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander commented: “Following earlier disruption on CrossCountry services, I am pleased to hear some trains are set to run tonight, and a full timetable expected to resume tomorrow.
“While passengers should continue to check their journeys before they travel, I’d like to thank engineers who are working tirelessly to minimise disruption as much as possible.
“We are setting up Great British Railways and nationalising services, including Cross Country next year, to end decades of fragmentation and vulnerability on our network. We are determined to give passengers the reliability they deserve.”
The biggest rail workers’ union demanded a thorough overhaul of railway operational control centres in the wake of the outage.
RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey argued that passengers and rail workers should not be forced to endure yet another week of “travel chaos” due to inadequate back-up systems.
He stated: “We clearly need a full root and branch review of critical areas of railway operational control centres to ensure they remain unaffected by power outages.”
Transport Salaried Staffs Association general secretary Maryam Eslamdoust added: “Our rail infrastructure has been left creaking by years of underinvestment by private train operating companies.
“This has allowed total failures like the complete shutdown of the CrossCountry due to Arriva’s failure to invest in failsafe systems to protect their control centre.
“We need full public ownership immediately and a plan for the vital investment our transport system needs to meet Britain’s growing needs.”
Passengers expressed frustration about Sunday’s chaos on social media, with some labelling the cancellations as “very frustrating”.
CrossCountry replied to numerous posts from ticket-holders on X, issuing apologies and suggesting alternative journeys.
Jeff Prestridge, a semi-retired editor from Wokingham, Berkshire, criticised the rail operator.
Mr Prestridge, who has held a West Bromwich Albion season ticket for over three decades, had intended to travel to his team’s West Midlands stadium on Sunday to watch them face Burnley from midday, but his trip was axed.
He told the Press Association: “I woke up this morning to see a kindly message from Trainline, who I booked through, to tell me that the service had been cancelled.
“I then received another email, subsequent to that, telling me that the return trip was cancelled also.
“I looked at going to Reading via a service up to Birmingham from there, but I wouldn’t have got there till half-time so, sadly, I’m still in Wokingham.”
Mr Prestridge added: “It’s so frustrating because, you know, CrossCountry, that service is substandard. It truly is.
“I mean, the number of cancellations on it, and also the number of times that I’ve got on it when it’s been packed because they’ve only run a set of four coaches.
“And if that service is going from Bournemouth up to Manchester, I mean it’s dreadful.
“Or, you know, I’ve sometimes got it from Birmingham back to Reading, and it’s been packed.”
Mr Prestridge acknowledged the power failure might not have been within CrossCountry’s control, but branded the train operator as “by far the worst” and said he “would like to see the service improve”.
The West Brom supporter revealed he had received no response from CrossCountry despite contacting the train operator on X.
Tickets purchased for travel on CrossCountry services on Sunday remain valid with other train operators on the same route.
The tickets will also be accepted on CrossCountry services until Wednesday.
Chiltern Railways announced it had introduced additional services between Birmingham Moor Street and Oxford to assist with the disruption, confirming it would accept “all CrossCountry tickets via any reasonable route”.
London North Eastern Railway also stated it would honour CrossCountry tickets “to help get affected customers to their destination”.
Passengers can submit Delay Repay compensation claims if their train is delayed by 30 minutes or more, while those who opt not to travel can request a refund.
Those intending to travel on Sunday evening and Monday are urged to verify their journey before setting off. A separate power failure earlier in August had resulted in disruptions and cancellations affecting CrossCountry services throughout the Midlands and North West regions.
Power had been lost at the primary control centre for north-west England’s rail network – the Manchester Rail Operating Centre – which also impacted Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, London Northwestern, Northern, TransPennine Express and Transport for Wales operations.
Earlier this year, CrossCountry was instructed to improve its standards following the poorest rating in a survey involving more than 100,000 travellers.
Watchdog Transport Focus reported in June that 79% of travellers were satisfied with the Arriva Group-owned operator.
Hull Trains secured the highest overall satisfaction rating at 94%, with LNER coming second (93%).