Power failure paralyzes Warsaw’s main train station

WARSAW, Poland – A power failure paralyzed Warsaw’s main train station for about three hours on Wednesday, leaving passengers stuck on platforms and trains at a standstill ahead of a pre-holiday travel rush.

The outage at Poland’s largest and busiest train station shut down the traffic control system, cut off lights and froze the ticket system. It came as many Poles prepared to leave the city ahead of the Corpus Christi holiday Thursday.

Get breaking National news

Get breaking Canada news delivered to your inbox as it happens so you won't miss a trending story.

Sign up for breaking National newsletter Get Started

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

After about three hours power returned and some trains began to run again. Railway spokesman Lukasz Kurpiewski warned, however, that travellers in the Warsaw region would continue to deal with delays and other disruptions.

PKP, the state railway system, said it wasn’t yet sure what caused the problem. Electricity provider RWE said it was not to blame.

There has been massive renovation work on the station ahead of the 2012 European Championship, a major football event co-hosted by Poland and Ukraine.