CrossCountry said it will run a “full service” on Monday after a power cut resulted in major cancellations across its network.
The train operator said a “very limited” number of trains would run from around 6pm on Sunday, with a return to normal service expected on Monday.
A power outage in Birmingham, which started on Saturday, affected the company’s control centre, resulting in many of the systems used to manage the railway being unavailable, the operator said.
Many services were cancelled after a power cut (Ben Birchall/PA)PA Wire“Almost all” services were cancelled on Sunday – including popular routes linking Glasgow to Edinburgh, Manchester to Birmingham, Cheltenham to Cardiff and Newcastle to Edinburgh.
A near-normal service was running between Peterborough, Cambridge and Stansted Airport “due to the impact of planned engineering work”, the company said.
A rail replacement bus service remained in place as planned 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.”
Replacement bus services were running where trains were cancelled (Ben Birchall/PA)PA WireTransport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: “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.”
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The biggest rail workers’ union called for a root and branch review of railway operational control centres following the outage.
RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said passengers and rail workers should not have to bear the brunt of another week of “travel chaos” because of insufficient back-up systems.
He said: “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 said: “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.”
Customers complained about Sunday’s disruption on social media, with some describing the cancellations as “very frustrating”.
CrossCountry responded to many posts from ticket-holders on X, apologising and advising of alternative routes.
Jeff Prestridge, a semi-retired editor from Wokingham, Berkshire, was critical of the train operator.
Mr Prestridge, who has been a West Bromwich Albion season ticket holder for more than 30 years, had planned to travel to his team’s West Midlands stadium on Sunday to see them play Burnley from 12pm, but his journey was cancelled.
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.
Passengers were critical of the provider (Ben Birchall/PA)PA Wire“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 said he understood the power failure may not have been within CrossCountry’s control, but described the train operator as “by far the worst” and said he “would like to see the service improve”.
The West Brom fan said he had not heard from CrossCountry despite writing to the train operator on X.
Tickets bought for travel on CrossCountry services on Sunday can still be used with other train operators on the same route.
The tickets will also remain valid on CrossCountry services until Wednesday.
Chiltern Railways said it had added services between Birmingham Moor Street and Oxford to help with the disruption, adding it would accept “all CrossCountry tickets via any reasonable route”.
London North Eastern Railway also confirmed it would accept CrossCountry tickets “to help get affected customers to their destination”.
Customers can apply for Delay Repay compensation if their train is delayed by 30 minutes or more, while those who choose not to travel can claim a refund.
More cancellations and delays are expected (Ben Birchall/PA)PA WirePeople planning to travel on Sunday evening and Monday are advised to check their journey before leaving.
Another power outage earlier in August had caused delays and cancellations on CrossCountry services across the Midlands and the North West.
Electricity had cut out in the main control hub for north-west England’s railways – the Manchester Rail Operating Centre – also affecting Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, London Northwestern, Northern, TransPennine Express and Transport for Wales services.
Earlier this year, CrossCountry was told to raise its performance after receiving the worst score in a survey of more than 100,000 passengers.
Watchdog Transport Focus said in June that 79% of passengers were satisfied with the Arriva Group-owned operator.
Hull Trains achieved the best overall satisfaction score at 94%, followed by LNER (93%).