Travel chaos as ScotRail hit by network outage

Daily Mail​

6 hours ago

Rail passengers in part of the UK have been plunged into travel chaos today as a major network grapples with a 'network outage.' ScotRail's ticket and payment systems have been hit with IT issues at some of Scotland's busiest stations, including Glasgow Central, Glasgow Queen Street and Edinburgh Waverley.
The rail network, which runs 95 per cent of passenger services in Scotland, said its internet service provider is experiencing a 'network outage' at a 'small number of locations' across the country. Passengers are reporting problems buying tickets on the ScotRail app as well as on machines at various stations.
A warning on the app for trains between Glasgow and Edinburgh also states: 'Customer information screens and live departure boards may be showing inaccurately at ScotRail stations.' One frustrated passenger took to X to demand answers from ScotRail this morning, writing: 'Journeycheck doesn't appear to be updating today. For example no mention of the disruption at Stirling this morning and cancellations/delays.'
Another pleaded: 'Please update your app/live times, no trains from bridge of allan. No one answered live help, no information at all.' Alan Manclark, ScotRail's head of IT, said the network is 'aware of an issue being experienced by our internet service provider.'
He added that the issue is 'affecting connectivity at a small number of locations across the country, including Edinburgh Waverley, Glasgow Central, and Glasgow Queen Street.' He continued: 'Our supplier is working hard to resolve the issue, and we're sorry to customers for the inconvenience while we await a fix.'
It comes as rail commuters face paying hundreds of pounds more for season tickets next year amid forecasts that fares in England could jump by nearly 6 per cent. This is based on a measure of inflation announced by the Office for National Statistics ( ONS ) today which said Retail Price Index (RPI) inflation rose to 4.8 per cent in July.
The government has not said how it will determine the cap on regulated fare rises in 2026, but this year's 4.6 per cent hike was one percentage point above RPI last July. If that formula is used to set next year's fare increase, the cost of rail travel will jump by 5.8 per cent. Britain's train punctuality is at its lowest level in more than five years.