CrossCountry Cancels Almost All Trains After Birmingham Control Centre Power Cut

CrossCountry passengers are facing major disruption across the UK after a power failure at the operator’s control centre forced the withdrawal of almost all services on Sunday 23 August.

The disruption began during the early hours of Sunday, with National Rail reporting the incident at 1:47am.

CrossCountry said a power cut affecting its control centre had left many of the systems used to manage the railway unavailable, resulting in widespread cancellations and significant reductions across its network.

The operator warned that train services across almost all routes would be withdrawn until further notice throughout Sunday.

One notable exception is the route between Peterborough, Cambridge and Stansted Airport, where services are expected to operate at close to normal levels.

CrossCountry operates long-distance services linking major towns and cities across Britain, including Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Cardiff, Newcastle, Edinburgh and parts of the South West.

The disruption has therefore affected passengers travelling across a wide area of the country, rather than being limited to a single route or region.

National Rail has also warned that other train services serving Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle could become extremely busy, particularly with several football fixtures taking place during the day.

Passengers with CrossCountry tickets are being allowed to use a large number of alternative train operators via reasonable routes at no additional cost.

These include Avanti West Coast, Northern, TransPennine Express, LNER, Great Western Railway, Transport for Wales, ScotRail and several other operators.

London Underground services can also be used where required, while West Midlands Metro services between Wolverhampton and Birmingham New Street are accepting affected passengers.

CrossCountry tickets originally purchased for Sunday 23 August will remain valid on CrossCountry services until Wednesday 26 August.

Passengers who decide not to travel can apply for a refund from the original retailer, while customers delayed by 30 minutes or more may also be eligible for Delay Repay compensation.

The disruption is likely to create additional demand for alternative forms of transport on some long-distance routes, particularly for passengers who still need to reach airports, hotels or onward connections.

Passengers unable to complete their journey by rail may also consider pre-booked road transport. DM Airport Transfers provides pre-booked airport and long-distance transfers across the UK.

National Rail is advising passengers to check their journey before travelling and to continue monitoring live updates throughout the day.

CrossCountry has apologised for the disruption and said it is working with industry partners while attempting to operate as many services as possible using alternative processes.

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