Widespread rail disruption after Leeds power outage
Commuters have been delayed across Northern England as a signalling issue, caused by a power outage, slowed railway travel through Leeds to a halt.
National Rail has stated that there was a total power outage at Leeds railway station at around 11am Sunday 30 November, causing a widespread failure in signalling. This led to many cancellations and delays across the region’s railways today.
National Rail also advised that the disruption would last until 5pm that evening, with the fault causing delays throughout the afternoon; the incidents, and delays, were eventually “cleared” at around 8:30pm that night.
Services that were disrupted included the CrossCountry services between Birmingham and the South West, and York, as well as LNER services between London and Leeds-Bradford, and all Northern services to and from Leeds. Transpennine Express services across the North, especially between Liverpool/Manchester and York/Hull, were also disrupted heavily.
Commuters using LNER and Northern were also offered to use alternative routes and services, on a number of different train operators, in an effort to mitigate disruption.
Network Rail stated that the exact cause of the delays was a “defective cable”, which began issues at around 10:50am. However, many were left having to use taxis or alternative public transport to reach their destination.
One spokesman from Network Rail added:
“Engineers attended the site and restored power by 13:20. Some services were cancelled or delayed, and passengers are advised to continue checking before they travel. We apologise for the disruption and thank passengers for their patience.”
Thousands of commuters have been disrupted not only in Leeds, but also nearby, such as in Sheffield, Huddersfield, Wakefield, and Doncaster.
In response to this disruption, one student at the University of Leeds said:
“I was on a LNER train after being at home for the weekend. It was a morning train. We had like 5-6 stops and everything was fine. We got to Wakefield Westgate and were told that no trains were going in or out of Leeds. Initially, we were told there would be a rail replacement, but we were left to find travel ourselves. I ended up sharing an Uber with 3 people that I’d met on the platform. I managed to get my money back.”
Furthermore, another student recalled:
“I was trying to get the train to work from Burley Park, and there were hundreds of people stranded on the platform when I got there, because none of the previous trains had arrived. I ended up walking nearly an hour to the city centre, catching the bus and then getting an Uber to make it in time for my shift.”