Manchester Metrolink tram network halted by systems failure

Technicians were due to work overnight to find the fault

The whole of Greater Manchester's tram network was shut down on Sunday because of a technical fault.

Control room staff lost visible sight of trams, Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) said.

A spokeswoman said the failure, which is not being linked to a cyber-attack, was discovered at about 15:50 BST.

The service remained out of action until the end of the day, but transport chiefs said it would be running normally on Monday.

Earlier Metrolink had said it had not yet been able to locate the fault and technicians would be working through the night to resolve the problem.

But shortly after midnight, the firm said: "All tram services are set to operate as normal on Monday morning following a major technical issue on Sunday which affected the network."

'Stranded with children'

On Sunday afternoon, all services stopped with Metrolink saying: "Due to a communication fault, all lines are suspended."

At about 22:00 Metrolink had added: "Technicians will work through the night, but until the fault is identified there is no timescale for recovery of the systems."

Frustrated travellers contacted the BBC to share their stories.

One, who bought tickets just before the service stopped, said: "I was stranded with three small children.

"I ended up having to pay for a taxi which cost me a further £7 on top of my tram ticket."

Another simply described it as "a shambles".

Metrolink apologised for the inconvenience and later said: "Apologies again and thank you for all your patience today."