Radio malfunction to blame for UK train disruption, says National Rail | Rail transport

A nationwide fault with railways’ communication systems caused disruption on Friday morning, with the worst of the delays hitting rush-hour services in the south-east of England.

Drivers found their radio systems were failing to start up automatically when trains left depots.

Although a manual solution was found, trains across the network had to start their journeys later because of the fault, leading to knock-on delays and some cancellations.

Network Rail initially investigated the issue at its telecoms hub in Doncaster, eventually tracing and fixing the fault at another hub near Stoke.

It is believed that new hardware installed as part of a system upgrade caused the problem, which was resolved by the end of Friday morning, although some train delays persisted into the afternoon.

The disruption primarily affected high-frequency services in the south-east of England, especially those run by Govia Thameslink Railway – Thameslink, Southern, Great Northern and Gatwick Express – along with South Western, Southeastern and parts of the Elizabeth line running west of the capital.

Some Northern Rail, Chiltern Railways and ScotRail services were reported as being affected by the incident, but with only minor delays.

Network Rail said there was minimal impact to most other services. However, passengers were told that short-notice cancellations and alterations could occur due to the knock-on effect on timetables and were urged to check before travel.

The digital onboard GSM-R system was introduced to allow constant communication between train drivers and signal operators, including along tracks going through tunnels and deep cuttings.

Network Rail announced just before midday that the problem had been resolved. A spokesperson said: “An overnight fault with our railway radio system in England and Wales has been traced to one of our major hubs near Stoke, which has now been fixed.

“The fault meant that train drivers were having to manually log into the national radio network rather than it happening automatically.

“The system is now working normally. We’re sorry if your journey has been affected today as a result of this issue.”

Although thousands of passengers experienced minor delays on the way to work, the issue caused relatively few problems compared with IT malfunctions in other transport sectors in the UK. An inquiry into the 2023 air traffic meltdown recently revealed that password problems contributed to delays in tackling a software glitch, leaving 2,000 flights grounded.

Delays and cancellations were also affecting passengers in the north of England due to a fallen tree on the line near Leeds, which damaged overhead wires. While the tree has been removed, Network Rail said safety checks would continue through Friday.

London North Eastern Railway (LNER) and CrossCountry services were disrupted and Wakefield Westgate station was closed to trains on Friday morning while repairs were carried out. Northern services between Leeds and Doncaster were not expected to run throughout the day.