Liverpool commuters were stuck for over two hours on a train that was just yards from a station.
The 7.13am train from Crewe to Liverpool was just 150m away from Manchester Piccadilly when it came to a halt at 9am.
This was due to a fault on the train, leading it to breakdown.
Prior to the service stopping, one person reportedly fainted as many commuters were forced to stand due to a lack of seats.
At around 11.30am, passengers were allowed off the train after another pulled up next to it, reports the Manchester Evening News.
The broken-down train caused delays to other services running from Manchester Piccadilly.
While it was stuck, Andrew Tomlinson, who hopped on at Wilmslow at 8.42am, said: "It is stuck 150m away from Piccadilly.
"I have been [on the train] for nearly three-and-a-half hours.
"There are plenty of people standing. I heard somebody collapsed.
"They have said it has lost power.
"I am definitely late for work. My work place is understanding, I feel for some people."
Tyla Daniels, who got on the train at Gatley, said: "Someone fainted, then our train ran out of power.
"We're literally just in line with the Etihad Stadium, so not far at all from Piccadilly.
"The extra train came, which was meant to save us and push us back into the station, but they had troubles with that so now they are trying something else."
A statement on the National Rail website read: "A broken down train near Manchester Piccadilly is causing disruption to journeys through the station.
"Services may be cancelled, delayed or diverted.
"We anticipate disruption will continue until 2pm."
A spokesman for Northern said: “Just before 9am this morning, the 7.13am Crewe to Liverpool Lime Street service reported a loss of power outside Manchester.
"We are sincerely sorry for those customer impacted.
"We had a team of people on-board and in conjunction with Network Rail, we were able to remove the customers off the stranded train late morning and taken to Manchester Piccadilly.
“As a result of this power failure, the continued impact of Storm Ciara and an incident involving emergency services this morning, there will be significant delays and cancellations in the area for much of today.”
