Picture your home Wi-Fi router. Now imagine a bolt of lightning zaps it. What happens? You lose your Netflix, your emails go missing, and you’re left staring at a blank screen. That’s basically what happened to the railway’s brain—the signalling computers.
The lightning didn’t hit a train, thank goodness. It hit the power lines and data cables that talk to the signals. One big jolt of electricity fried some circuits, and suddenly, the signals couldn’t decide if they were red, green, or just confused.
Trains had to crawl at walking pace through affected areas. It’s like being in a huge traffic jam on the M62, but you’re in a train with a lovely view of a rainy Lime Street platform.
