CrossCountry has cancelled almost all of its train services in Great Britain after a power cut in Birmingham hit its control centre.
Most services have been cancelled until further notice, including routes from Glasgow to Edinburgh, Manchester to Birmingham, Cheltenham to Cardiff and Newcastle to Edinburgh.
The train operator said it expected a “near normal service” between Peterborough, Cambridge and Stansted Airport, while a planned rail replacement bus service is running between Leicester and Peterborough.
The transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, told the Press Association, “I am concerned to hear about a power outage affecting CrossCountry rail services today, which I know will be very frustrating to passengers.
“The service between Peterborough, Cambridge and Stansted is still running. I’ve asked publicly owned operators to lay on extra services where possible. We’ve also sent Network Rail power teams who are onsite and working to restore power and systems as soon as possible.”
CrossCountry has told customers that tickets for its services on Sunday can be used with other train operators on the same route, and that they will remain valid on CrossCountry services until Wednesday 26 August.
Chiltern Railways said it had added services between Birmingham Moor Street and Oxford, and that it will accept all CrossCountry tickets “via any reasonable route”.
LNER also said it would accept CrossCountry tickets “to help get affected customers to their destination”.
Customers are entitled to delay repay compensation if their train is delayed by 30 minutes or more. Those who choose not to travel can claim a refund.
