CrossCountry cancelled nearly all its UK rail services on Wednesday, 26 August 2026, following a power cut at its control centre in Birmingham. The outage began on Saturday and disrupted key systems used to manage train operations across most of its network.
UK Route Disruptions from Glasgow to Penzance and Leeds to Manchester
The cancellations affected major routes including Glasgow to Penzance, Leeds to Manchester, Manchester to Birmingham via Stoke-on-Trent, Coventry, and Wolverhampton, Leeds to York, Cheltenham to Cardiff, and Glasgow to Edinburgh. The only route with near-normal service was between Peterborough, Cambridge, and Stansted Airport.
Transport Secretary and Network Rail Respond to Disruption
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander expressed concern over the power outage and requested publicly owned operators
to add extra services where possible. She confirmed that Network Rail power teams were on site working to restore power and systems as quickly as possible.
Ticket Validity Extension and Support from Other Operators
CrossCountry extended ticket validity for journeys planned on Sunday until Wednesday. Chiltern Railways introduced additional services between Birmingham Moor Street and Oxford and accepted all CrossCountry tickets on reasonable alternative routes. London North Eastern Railway also accepted CrossCountry tickets to assist affected passengers.
Passenger Impact and Alternative Travel Methods
Passengers reported severe disruption including cancellations and long detours. Football fan Reese Proctor described the cancellations as “frustrating and unacceptable” after driving over 100 miles via Leicester to reach Manchester’s Etihad
Stadium for a 14:00 BST kick-off. Others used coaches or relied on Great Western Railway services to replace disrupted routes to Plymouth and Penzance.
Compensation and Additional Travel Facilities for Affected Customers
Passengers are entitled to Delay Repay compensation for delays of 30 minutes or more and can claim refunds if they choose not to travel. National Rail allowed free use of London Underground and West Midlands Metro services between Wolverhampton and Birmingham New Street for customers impacted by CrossCountry cancellations.
Station Operations and Advice to Football Fans
At Birmingham New Street station, platform barriers were opened, and digital boards displayed notices about cancellations. National Rail warned football fans that services to Manchester, Liverpool, and
Newcastle could be extremely busy and advised passengers to expect standing room on trains.
CrossCountry Apologizes and Promises Updates
CrossCountry issued an apology to all affected passengers, confirming it was working closely with partners and will provide further updates as soon as possible. The operator stated that tickets remain valid on other rail services and acknowledged the ongoing disruption caused by the power outage.
