Trains all at a stand in the Manchester area... (Thursday afternoon 06AUG2026)

[Jamesrob637]

I'm on the 13:53 from Euston to Piccadilly. We just made an unscheduled stop at Nuneaton due to the issues further north. We're now on the move again (23 or so mins late), but it will be interesting to see how far we get!

Literally just now at 17:00!

 

[Intercity_225]

Schedule 8

What's this?

 

[Spartacus]

I've heard of generators failing effectively because they've been tested too often & run out of fuel! This seems more complicated than a simple generator outage though.

 

[Howardh]

At least presumably a (lengthy) Metrolink journey is possible from there?

Yes, the Metro stop is adjacent to the station. Think the line runs from Rochdale to Oldham then Victoria - if so a local bus to Manchester or to Bury (then Metro) might be quicker?

 

[Andyh82]

On the TPE, it looks like there hasn’t been a train from Huddersfield to Manchester since just before 1pm. Some trains got as far as Marsden before turning back.

 

[zwk500]

What's this?

It's the specific part of the contract between NR and TOCs/FOCs that handles the delay compensation between them:

Payments for disruption on the railway - Network Rail

We work hard to run a punctual and reliable train service for passengers. Unfortunately there are times when things do not go to plan.

www.networkrail.co.uk

Other people will probably be able to provide far more detail than me.

 

[Bantamzen]

Oh I dread to think what the Schedule 8 cost for NR will be at the end of all this! Although note that the compensation from NR is tied to the value of each minute's delay/cancellations of the TOC's trains, not the value of any compensation the TOC may be required to pay out to their passengers.

Judging by the fact that Piccadilly is mess, and nothing much has moved from Victoria and Oxford Road, someone's got an awkward meeting tomorrow.

Just as an aside, whilst I realise how difficult a situation this is, a "Do not travel" notice in the middle of a working day, from one of the biggest cities in the country isn't really helpful. People will have to travel one way or another, so maybe have a "Here's how you might be able to make your journey", with a live page offering alternatives wherever possible.

 

[JamesT]

This shows the problem with what might be regarded as overcentralisation. Historically the local signal boxes were too labour intensive and there was rightly seen as a need to get away with that. What did other countries do? I know Switzerland has signal panels in stations and people seem to appear from other jobs to set routes.

If you are going to place a lot of dependence on these huge 'ROCs', a lot of thought should be going into the power supply arrangements. There should be multiple grid feeds with the opportunity to switch automatically between them along with diesel generators that can come in if needed. I once worked on a safety critical plant with A and B supplies where a failure of the A supply (I heard the bang when it disconnected at the substation). The B supply failed to take over and the diesel generator also failed to start up. Subsequent investigation showed that the B supply was in fact dependent on the A supply and there was another design issue in the diesel system. Much improvement was needed.

The flip side is that it can take a certain scale before redundancy is worth it. Does every individual signalbox have generator backup? Whereas with something of the scale of the ROC you absolutely will put in UPS, generator backup, redundant grid feeds etc.

 

[matchmaker]

This shows the problem with what might be regarded as overcentralisation. Historically the local signal boxes were too labour intensive and there was rightly seen as a need to get away with that. What did other countries do? I know Switzerland has signal panels in stations and people seem to appear from other jobs to set routes.

If you are going to place a lot of dependence on these huge 'ROCs', a lot of thought should be going into the power supply arrangements. There should be multiple grid feeds with the opportunity to switch automatically between them along with diesel generators that can come in if needed. I once worked on a safety critical plant with A and B supplies where a failure of the A supply (I heard the bang when it disconnected at the substation). The B supply failed to take over and the diesel generator also failed to start up. Subsequent investigation showed that the B supply was in fact dependent on the A supply and there was another design issue in the diesel system. Much improvement was needed.


That one too. One piece of equipment had a redundant and a current database in the PC. The responsible person wanted to reformat the PC. i told him there were two databases and to make sure he had a copy of the right one. It turned out that the automated daily backups had been made of the redundant database and he lost all the data.

Meantime, on the Caledonian Sleeper thread...

"Dalwhinnie Signaller reports, mains power failure affecting signalling at Dalwhinnie area of control. Unable to run to or from Blair Atholl and Kingussie."

Highland Main Line closed due to power failure at isolated traditional box!

 

[Intercity_225]

It's the specific part of the contract between NR and TOCs/FOCs that handles the delay compensation between them:

Payments for disruption on the railway - Network Rail

We work hard to run a punctual and reliable train service for passengers. Unfortunately there are times when things do not go to plan.

www.networkrail.co.uk

Other people will probably be able to provide far more detail than me.

Cheers

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Yes, the Metro stop is adjacent to the station. Think the line runs from Rochdale to Oldham then Victoria - if so a local bus to Manchester or to Bury (then Metro) might be quicker?

If you're talking about getting a bus from Rochdale over to Bury Interchange, and then a tram from Bury into Manchester, then that, IMHO, has to be a somewhat longer overall journey time than just getting a tram from Rochdale to Manchester (via Oldham).

 

[Steddenm]

Would the Metrolink between Deansgate Junction/Navigation Road to Altrincham be affected by the disruption as isn't this section signalled by Network Rail?

 

[Topmandog1]

They probably do but it is a classic in the IT world that generators get tested quite often but then one or more things happen to cause the test to be meaningless:

1. They don't do an actual switchover - just see that the generators start and never apply load
2. They have used nearly all the fuel in testing and when needed in anger there is none / little left - stop laughing there at the back as it happens all to often.

Guess it's like the 2000s when television centres backup supply caught fire

 

[dantheman1973]

Hello everyone. I hope yous can help.

I’m booked on the 22:12 from Durham to York on TPE. Then the 23:38 from York to Manchester, once again with TPE. I also need to be at Manchester airport in time for a 6am flight.

I’ve noticed that the York-Manchester train has now been cancelled, and with TPE announcing to not travel at all for the rest of the day, what are my options.

Thank You!

 

[sharpener]

I've heard of generators failing effectively because they've been tested too often & run out of fuel! This seems more complicated than a simple generator outage though.

Lots of failure modes are possible and many described upthread.

To give them their due the recovery seems under way and much more quickly than after the Heathrow substation fire.

 

[Bantamzen]

Would the Metrolink between Deansgate Junction/Navigation Road to Altrincham be affected by the disruption as isn't this section signalled by Network Rail?

No it seems, I travelled down to Altrincham without issue.

 

[D6130]

Another episode which shows the folly of having all your eggs in the one basket!

 

[Topmandog1]

Not necessarily. A firm I worked for tested them once a month. On one occasion the Facilities Manager thought it would be smart to put the batteries on boost charge afterwards. Then he forgot and they boiled dry.

A few days later there was a real power cut and the genny failed to start leaving entire complex without any power.

Well I mean yes testing too often is an issue but clearly something needs to happen to prevent what happened today happening again anytime soon

 

[Justin Smith]

I’m at Oxford Road waiting for a train, nothing is moving although there are signs of life at Piccadilly now so that’s promising.

It would happen the one day I manage to finish early at work…

We were travelling to Sheffield, originally from Oxford Rd, and took the decision to walk to Piccadilly despite being told "it'd be no better". For once the Gods were smiling on us and we just had time to get on the 14.48 stopper because it left 36min late ! This goes via Romiley not Stockport and actually gained 3 minutes on its journey, arriving Sheff at 16.38. I expected it to be packed, as did the guard, but it wasn't, which was very surprising. In my view a lot of passengers at Piccadilly made the wrong decision......

 

[wilsontown]

Just seen a 10-car TPE 802 formation go through Leeds, empty. All TPE towards York cancelled for the next couple of hours. Going to sit in Leeds with a pint for a bit and probably go Northern to York, possibly via Harrogate.

 

[S101]

Another episode which shows the folly of having all your eggs in the one basket!

But it affected more than Manchester ROC didn't it? Piccadilly PSB, Crewe and the likes?

 

[jfollows]

Would the Metrolink between Deansgate Junction/Navigation Road to Altrincham be affected by the disruption as isn't this section signalled by Network Rail?

No, because the signals are controlled by the local signal boxes (Deansgate Junction), as is Stockport, so were either not directly affected or recovered quickly.
As others have pointed out, the downside of large centralised control centres mean they can be "all or nothing" under certain circumstances, and clearly Manchester Victoria has been much more badly affected than I first thought. It's not a "Network Rail" issue, it's to do with how Network Rail has implemented certain systems in certain places.

 

[Trainguy34]

Hello everyone. I hope yous can help.

I’m booked on the 22:12 from Durham to York on TPE. Then the 23:38 from York to Manchester, once again with TPE. I also need to be at Manchester airport in time for a 6am flight.

I’ve noticed that the York-Manchester train has now been cancelled, and with TPE announcing to not travel at all for the rest of the day, what are my options.

Thank You!

Best bet I can see is either a taxi from York or the 2315 Northern RRB to Leeds, spend an hour there and get the 0220 National Express Coach to Manchester Airport (Arrives 04:20). In theory you should be able to get reimbursed for the coach, although it looks to only cost £9.90.

 

[sjm77]

Just as an aside, whilst I realise how difficult a situation this is, a "Do not travel" notice in the middle of a working day, from one of the biggest cities in the country isn't really helpful. People will have to travel one way or another, so maybe have a "Here's how you might be able to make your journey", with a live page offering alternatives wherever possible

100% agree with this! When I read this on Northern website I thought they might as well have said "Sleep in your office tonight".

 

[Mcr Warrior]

It's not a "Network Rail" issue, it's to do with how Network Rail has implemented certain systems in certain places.

Eh? Sounds like it's very much still a Network Rail issue to me!

 

[James268]

That service is terminating at Rochdale - looks like Victoria is still entirely blocked.

And Rochdale is enirely blocked. That service has been sat at (or near) Smithy Bridge for 50 mins.

This has shown as gone into the bay on platform 2. I do wonder when that was last used?

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:G89225/2026-08-06/detailed#allox_id=1

This is sat on the through Manchester bound platform 3.

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:L89704/2026-08-06/detailed

Don't know if there's bi-directional signaling to go Manchester bound on platform 1. I'm sure someone on here will know!

 

[The Mercian]

Having previously worked in Facilities Management, incidents like this massively trigger me. I can regale people with numerous tales of poorly designed power failure systems and processes, poorly maintained UPS and generator systems and power system interlocks that haven’t ever been tested in anger. I’m just thinking of some poor maintenance tech, the FM and his mates at the moment trying to get a stable power supply back on whilst the world and his wife are shouting down the telephone at them.

 

[Iskra]

We were travelling to Sheffield, originally from Oxford Rd, and took the decision to walk to Piccadilly despite being told "it'd be no better". For once the Gods were smiling on us and we just had time to get on the 14.48 stopper because it left 36min late ! This goes via Romiley not Stockport and actually gained 3 minutes on its journey, arriving Sheff at 16.38. I expected it to be packed, as did the guard, but it wasn't, which was very surprising. In my view a lot of passengers at Piccadilly made the wrong decision......

I arrived Man Oxford Road at about 1445, so probably passed you somewhere. Unfortunately, I was too encumbered with work equipment to easily walk to Piccadilly, although I could see on Traksy that that was probably the best place to be. After waiting a while I got a taxi to my local station in West Yorkshire to pick up my car and have just got home now.

 

[Justin Smith]

I arrived Man Oxford Road at about 1445, so probably passed you somewhere. Unfortunately, I was too encumbered with work equipment to easily walk to Piccadilly, although I could see on Traksy that that was probably the best place to be. After waiting a while I got a taxi to my local station in West Yorkshire to pick up my car and have just got home now.

How much did the taxi cost ? ! ?

 

[Ballyheigue]

Daft question coming up, I'm planning on going to the Lake District from Leeds via Lancaster tomorrow, because trains and crews are all over the place with this disruption, is it likely to affect my journey at 10am tomorrow or are crews who do the Bentham line trains not affected?