Chaos as train station plunges into darkness

Unhappy: Shopkeeper Alan was forced to sit in darkness for almost three hours

Rochdale train station was plunged into darkness after a power trip knocked off all lights and computer systems.

Commuters were left scratching their heads after the electronic display boards flickered and went down at 10am this morning (Friday 6 March), and ticket staff drew the blinds because the systems had gone down.

Shopkeeper Alan, who runs the station coffee shop, was out of business for almost three hours before repairs were made and everything was up and running.

He said: “I couldn’t even shut the shop because my shutters are electronic. So I just and to sit here in the dark, hoping no-one would come in.

“It’s ridiculous it had to take them so long”.

A spokeswoman from Northern Rail said: “An electronic fault caused the shutdown at 10.00am. Staff could not serve use the customers because the computers were off and they couldn’t print tickets off”.

Steve Reynolds, who was waiting for his train said: "I can't believe the staff just put the blinds down. Fair enough the computers were down but what's wrong with a little communication?"

The power was back on at 12.45. Trains were unaffected.