Britain's rail ticket-booking systems go TITSUP*

Chugga chugga chugga chugga... EEEEE... we are currently unable to process...

Updated Train companies across the UK are unable to take online ticket bookings due to what has been described as a "national issue" with the country's reservation service.

The outage – which appears to have affected all UK train operating companies (TOCs) today – means that users can't book tickets on websites or on mobile apps.

The issues began at about 1030 this morning, according to users who took to Twitter to raise their grievances with the various providers.

Would-be Virgin Trains travellers were faced with this message on the website: "Sorry, due to a technical issue we are currently unable to process your request. Please go back and try again..."

The firm told users that it was working on a fix for the issue, while pointing the finger at a higher power.

We think it may be a wider app issue, as we've had reports of other TOCs apps being down. Are you able to book via the website? ^CW

— Virgin Trains (@VirginTrains) October 29, 2018

Similar issues were reported by CrossCountry, East Midlands and London North Eastern Railway, which pointed out on Twitter that the issue was national.

APP/WEBSITE ISSUES: We are currently unable to accept payments or do journey enquiries on our website due to an outage. This is also affecting other train operator booking sites. We are working behind the scenes to restore working order. Apologies for the inconvenience caused.

— CrossCountry trains (@CrossCountryUK) October 29, 2018

In a statement sent to The Register, Virgin Trains placed the blame on train ticket retailer Trainline: "Due to a technical problem with our booking engine, which is run by Trainline, it is not currently possible to purchase tickets via the Virgin Trains website. We're working with them to fix this as soon as possible."

Trainline has yet to respond to a request for comment, but said on Twitter that its reservation system "doesn't want to play ball" and that it was working on a fix.

Hi all. The reservation system doesn’t want to play ball with us right now! We’re working with the industry to get this back up & running and hope to have this fixed ASAP. Thanks - Hollie

— trainline (@thetrainline) October 29, 2018

Meanwhile, LNER's initial tweet about the outage referred to the National Reservation Service – which we understand to be a separate issue to the ongoing problems with Trainline's services:

#LNERUpdate The National Reservation Service (NRS) is currently down. This is affecting all retail channels (which means "booking tickets on the website, and on-board card payments and Wi-Fi", in IT Speak).

Our Web Wizards are working hard to resolve this ASAP! pic.twitter.com/rR9QWCqS7f

— London North Eastern Railway (@LNER) October 29, 2018

It's likely this is a reference to the National Rail Reservation System – the 10-year support contract which was handed to Capgemini in 2009.

El Reg has asked the outsourcing biz for a comment as to whether it still holds the contract and, if so, what the root cause of the TITSUP is and when it will be fixed.

Because, although East Midlands and LNER both claimed that the service had been fixed, users are still reporting problems.

Hi Imtiaz, we are still experiencing intermittent issues. All we can suggest is to keep trying and thank you for your patience ^PB

— East Midlands Trains (@EMTrains) October 29, 2018

National Rail also pointed to the National Reservation Service, saying that engineers were "working hard" to fix it:

UPDATE: The National Reservation Service (NRS) is currently intermittent. This is affecting all retail channels such as booking tickets via the NRE and train companies websites - you may find a delay in loading the payment screen. Engineers are working hard to fix this fully.

— National Rail (@nationalrailenq) October 29, 2018

Indeed, your Vulture's efforts to procure tickets to Birmingham online via Trainline, Virgin Trains, East Midlands and Cross Country all failed at the time of going to press.

We will update this story when we hear back from the operators. ®

* Trains' Inability To Support Usual Passengers

Updated to add at 1531 UTC

Trainline has been in touch to say:

"We experienced a technical difficulty on our app and website which means customers were unable to search for, and book, UK journeys. This is now fixed and we thank customers for their patience.

"If customers were not able to access tickets bought with us for travel during this time, we recommend they call our customer service team on 0333 202 2222."