Sean Dilley
Transport correspondent

The BBC has been told that the earlier fault with the national rail communications network GSMR has been resolved.

The hardware card that was installed overnight that the engineers believe was responsible for disruption has been replaced and the Stoke node is fully operational.

Radios that had been manually programmed by drivers are now being switched back to automatic mode.

We'll shortly be closing our live page - thank you for joining us this morning.

Image source, PA Media

With delays easing, we're closing our page soon - so let's recap a frustrating morning for commuters:

• As passengers were met with delays and cancellations this morning, National Rail said there was a "nationwide fault" related to the communication system used by drivers and signallers
• The problem affected a number of lines throughout London, southern England, Wales, and elsewhere
• Network Rail said there was a workaround, but it led to delays as workers accessed the alternative method

• The fault was seemingly caused by a hardware card that was installed overnight as part of an upgrade
• With commuters reporting their frustration, we heard from a man in Portsmouth who paid over £50 for an Uber to get to a job he only started this week

While rail delays caused by this morning's communication system fault are easing, National Rail has issued another warning, with severe weather anticipated this weekend.

In a post published within the last hour, National Rail asks travellers to check their journeys before leaving as red, amber and yellow weather warnings are in place for Storm Darragh.

Stockport and Chester have already been affected by heavy rain, with trains running at reduced speed due to flooding.

Image source, PA Media

Railway lines in Wales have been experiencing disruption and cancellations, Transport for Wales confirmed.

Areas in North Wales are mainly affected, including lines between North Llanrwst and Blaenau, Pwllheli and Machynlleth, Aberystwyth and Shrewsbury, Holyhead and Bangor.

The rail operator advised that train services to and from these stations may be subject to disruption.

Southeastern Railway, one of the affected lines this morning, says they are expecting delays to "begin reducing".

"Whilst the fault is not fixed, trains are now able to set up the radio systems when being prepared for their journey," it says.

Southeastern expects services on their line to return to normal by "approximately 11:30" - with trains currently running between five and 20 minutes late.

Sean Dilley
Transport correspondent

The BBC has been told the cause of the fault in national rail radio communications has been located and is being fixed.

Engineers have identified that a new hardware card installed overnight at the telecommunications node in Stoke is the source of the problem.

The hardware card was installed as part of an upgrade to the system - but drivers found this morning that the digital communications system connecting them to signals, known as GSM-R, lost communications and needed to be reconnected manually.

The system at Stoke is being rebooted and a new hardware card installed.

All communications traffic is being managed successfully through a different communications node in Didcot.

Drivers and signallers could not log on to the radio system which they use to communicate with each other, causing this morning's delays, Network Rail confirms.

The system, called GSM-R, is designed to let drivers and signallers communicate at all times, even when trains are in areas like tunnels and deep cuttings.

"The back-up manual log-in system is being used instead, causing a few minutes of delay at the start of the day," added the spokesperson.

"Once up and running the system is working normally and the impact for passengers is minimal."

Kris Bramwell
BBC UGC

Matthew Smith lives in Portsmouth and started a new job in Basingstoke this week.

He tells me this is the third consecutive day there has been issues with trains, describing this morning as a "pandemonium".

"I intended to travel from Portsmouth to Basingstoke this morning at 06:32," he says.

"At 6am when I checked the status of the train, it was running on time. Only when I arrived at the platform I saw that the train was not stopping at Basingstoke and I was advised to catch the next train which was half an hour later.

"Staff at the station had as much information as I could obtain from the app."

He explains he caught the train to Havant before taking an Uber to Basingstoke at a cost of £54 - which he plans to claim back from South Western Railway.

National Rail says there is major disruption between Leeds and Wakefield Westgate this morning, but not because of the problems with the communication system.

Heavy winds damaged overhead wires and caused a tree to fall onto the line in West Yorkshire on Thursday night, meaning services could be delayed by up to an hour, or diverted.

The disruption is expected until the end of the day and Network Rail engineers are on site.

Nick Johnson
Reporting from London Victoria

It was a welcome surprise to bag a seat on my delayed train into Victoria from Falconwood. The station itself is busy, but nothing out of the ordinary for a week day.

I’ve spoken to a couple of people who’ve described the delays as annoying, but not a problem which is having a dramatic effect on their Friday.

Departures boards show Southeastern, Southern and Gatwick Express services operating with some delays of around 20-30 minutes, but it appears cancellations have mostly cleared.

A notice on the departure board says the nationwide fault with the radio systems also means speed restrictions have been imposed on some services.

Jack Gray
BBC Newsbeat

I’m on a (slow) CrossCountry train to Manchester from Birmingham, while being deployed to report on a different story - but we haven’t made much progress yet.

There was quite a wait for this one at the platform, and the boards at Birmingham New Street were working overtime with disappearing trains, changing times and delays.

The only real update we’ve had is an announcement saying "slight delays" were down to trains waiting for signals to let them go.

Manchester's main railway station has been subject to delays and some cancellations.

But although many trains were delayed, most were only by a few minutes, according to the National Rail website, external.

Carolyn Rice
Reporting from a delayed London train

It's a morning of frustration on South Western Railway.

Trains between Southampton and London Waterloo had already been diverted because of over-running engineering works.

Then the trains began travelling at a reduced speed once we were near Liss, and we've now all been told that our train - headed for Waterloo - will now terminate at Woking.

We're already running nearly an hour late.

Image source, PA Media

"A miserable rush hour for a lot of people today," travel journalist Simon Calder tells our colleagues on BBC Radio 5 Live.

"To have a failure like this at the height of a Friday rush hour is once again, extremely unfortunate and regrettably, will underline the sense that a lot of people have that you simply can’t rely on trains."

His advice for commuters? "Hope for the best but be prepared for delays and disruption."

Sean Dilley
Transport correspondent

The BBC understands that engineers believe the fault in the communications system lies within the system at the national telecommunications hub in Doncaster.

Commuters across the country have been disrupted after the digital communication system used by drivers failed to connect on start-up.

We’ve been told that there are no safety critical issues as staff have been using a workaround to manually reconnect.

A well-rehearsed back-up is being used where drivers enter a code provided to them on “a wild card” which lets them establish communications with the national network.

The workaround has been described to us as working like a Wi-Fi password - when the correct code is entered, the system becomes fully operational and will remain so.

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Thameslink - which runs north to south through London - says the nationwide issue is affecting "multiple train companies" this morning.

"For most journeys you can travel using your normal route, however delays and alterations are possible," it says.

Cachella Smith
Live reporter

I arrived at Crayford station shortly before 07:00 to see the next few trains to London were cancelled.

Staff at the station said the best route may be to travel back out towards Kent and either pick up another line, or get the Elizabeth Line (which is also reporting delays).

As I left to work out a new route, a number of people were huddling by the entrance, taking images of the cancellation signs and speaking to staff.

I have managed to get into London now via the Elizabeth Line - but had another train terminated for an unrelated reason.

Staff have a workaround, but it takes timepublished at 08:22 Greenwich Mean Time 6 December

08:22 GMT 6 December

Sean Dilley
Transport correspondent

The BBC understands that the cause of a nationwide delay to train services across Britain lies within an on-board communication system known as the global system for mobile communications – railway (GSM-R).

The technology uses digital communications between trains and signallers to improve safety for passengers.

While it works in a similar way to mobile phones, the digital system is not reliant on commercial mobile phone operators. The rail network has its own contained phone and mast system.

One rail source told the BBC that "the system isn't connecting easily". There is a workaround that staff can use but it takes time.

We've also been told that once the system is operational "there are no problems", but investigations are underway in to why the GSMR network is experiencing problems.

Nick Johnson
Reporting from Falconwood, south-east London

I’ve been waiting on the platform for my train here in Falconwood in south-east London for the past half hour.

The departure board shows all trains either delayed or cancelled, due to a "national fault with the radio systems".

Since the pandemic, there have been fewer commuters on a Friday from this part of the capital.

It means the platform and trains are less busy than perhaps they would have been on another week day.

My train to Victoria is still running - nonetheless a 30-minute delay isn’t ideal.