A SIGNAL box failure triggered chaos today for thousands of train passengers travelling in and out of Manchester.

A loss of power in the main control panel of the signal box at Piccadilly Station meant that all train services were subject to severe delays of at least 45 minutes.

The problem took about an hour to resolve but delays continued throughout the morning.

A spokesman for Network Rail said: "The power failure was reported at 8.20am today. It caused all signals on tracks in the surrounding area to go on to red, and meant points could not be operated.

"The station serves a vast area south of the city. Some services were being terminated at Stockport and the possibility of buses being laid on for passengers to finish their journey was being considered.

The chaos left hundreds of passengers waiting for trains at Piccadilly and others stuck on trains which had been halted while attempting to get into the station.

The spokesman added: "Services from all directions were delayed - local ones from Macclesfield and Stockport, plus those from Liverpool, Sheffield, Stoke, Crewe - dozens of services have been hit.

"We are still trying to establish what the cause of the power failure was - it could be something as a blown fuse or something more serious.

"At about 9.30am the problem was sorted out and the main part of the station - platforms 1-12 were back to normal. But we were still experiencing delays with trains heading towards the Trafford Park area via Deansgate and Oxford Road.

"However the earlier delays meant it was taking some time to clear the backlog."

One passenger who had been hoping to catch a train to London Euston from Piccadilly at 10.15am said: "We are getting a bus to Stockport and will try to pick up the train there as nothing is moving from Piccadilly. We were directed to several different platforms initially but there just seemed to be a lot of confusion."