THOUSANDS of rail commuters were delayed after a circuit failure.

Network Rail apologised after the fault on the line between Huddersfield and Stalybridge.

The circuit failure was discovered at 6am yesterday, causing long delays on the First TransPennine Express and Northern Rail services between Huddersfield and Manchester.

A Network Rail spokeswoman told the Examiner yesterday: “There was a system failure and we apologise for the problems it caused.

“We were on-site very early but, at that time of day, there are going to be delays.”

The circuit was repaired by 7.50am but disruption to services lasted for another two hours.

The spokeswoman said: “There was a knock-on impact of trains being in the wrong place.”