RAIL passengers travelling from and through Crewe have been hit by disruption after a "major" signalling failure.

Engineers are working to fix the problem but train services are likely to be affected right through until Monday.

Specialist teams from Network Rail and the signalling system manufacturer are working around the clock in Crewe and at the Manchester South Control Centre to find the fault and fix it.

Network Rail says engineers have repaired and checked miles of signalling cable to try to restore the signalling. That has failed to resolve what was first thought to be an outage issue and now the technical team is focusing its investigations on what is described as an "unprecedented" computer software issue.

The complexity of the fault means trains will continue to be disrupted this weekend.

Phil James, Network Rail's North West route director, said: "I appreciate this signalling failure in Crewe is a huge inconvenience to passengers and I'd just like to really apologise. I've had engineers working all night alongside the signalling manufacturer to find out what's gone wrong.

"I'm hugely sorry this is going to have to continue into the weekend. The emergency timetable will remain in place."

The signalling issue is affecting all trains between Crewe and Manchester and Macclesfield and Manchester. Trains have been cancelled, delayed by up to 60 minutes or rescheduled.

This has had a knock-on impact to services to Birmingham and the wider rail network.

Services run by Northern, Avanti West Coast, Transport Wales and Crosscountry have all been affected.

Avanti cancelled the Euston to Crewe to Manchester Piccadilly service while Transport for Wales have terminated South Wales to Manchester trains at Crewe with passengers advised to take alternative routes or use bus replacements.

A spokesperson for Avanti West Coast said: "We are working hard with Network Rail and industry partners to minimise disruption to journeys on our Manchester route."

Rail passengers are being urged to check here before they travel.