CrossCountry cancels trains across UK after control centre power outage in Birmingham

Train operator CrossCountry has cancelled almost all its services across the UK because of a power outage at its control centre.

Disruptions began on Sunday morning with "almost all" routes cancelled or delayed until further notice, CrossCountry said.

The power cut at CrossCountry's control centre in central Birmingham meant the systems used to manage the network were offline.

The "significant and unforeseen disruption" affects major routes including between Birmingham and Manchester, Glasgow and Edinburgh and York and Newcastle.

The outage coincided with several football matches on Sunday, with National Rail warning that other services to Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle would be "extremely busy" as a result of the cancellations.

Services between Peterborough, Cambridge and Stansted Airport continue to operate at almost normal levels because of planned engineering work.

A CrossCountry spokesperson said: "A power cut in Birmingham city centre has affected the building where our control centre is located.

"As a result, many of the systems our control teams use to manage the railway are currently unavailable.

"Although colleagues are working hard to safely operate services using alternative processes, CrossCountry services will be significantly disrupted on Sunday 23 August.

"While we will run as many trains as possible, passengers should expect significant reductions to services and cancellations across almost all CrossCountry routes throughout the day.

"We are sorry to passengers affected by this significant and unforeseen disruption."

It's at the control centre that CrossCountry monitors the locations of trains and oversees staff changeovers.

Some passengers took to social media to voice their frustration at the disruptions.

One commuter said in a post on X that their train from York to Birmingham had been cancelled, and they were the only person in their business with a key.

Another passenger demanded a refund and wrote: "Is there any responsibility towards passengers?"

CrossCountry was found to be Britain's worst-performing train operator in a Transport Focus survey of passengers.

Other train operators continue to run services on the same routes.

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A rail replacement bus service had already been planned between Leicester and Peterborough, and its operations have been unaffected.

CrossCountry specialises in long-distance travel, with some of the routes cancelled on Sunday including Edinburgh to Plymouth, Penzance to Leeds and Nottingham to Cardiff Central.

The CrossCountry spokesperson added: "Ticket acceptance is in place with other train operators, and customers will be entitled to Delay Repay compensation. Customers who choose not to travel can claim a refund from their original point of purchase.

"We are working closely with relevant partners and will provide further updates as soon as possible."

(c) Sky News 2026: CrossCountry cancels trains across UK after control centre power outage in Birmingham