Hundreds of passengers at Euston were hit train chaos after a signal failure brought the network to a standstill.
Network Rail said the disruption was set to ease after 1pm but passengers were still reporting problems after that.
A statement said: “A point failure at London Euston means all lines are blocked. As a result, trains running to/from this station may be cancelled or delayed by up to 60 minutes. Major disruption is expected to continue until 13:00.”
About 60,000 fans were trying to get to Tottenham for the NFL game between Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans today. Meanwhile more than 35,000 were expected at the Emirates Stadium for Arsenal Women’s match against Aston Villa.
Stranded passengers have been told service will be ending early and trains will no longer stop at some stations.
Lindsay Noble Hurst wrote on X: “Finally on a train to Manchester after hours of delays and platform bingo at Euston. Told to go Kings Cross at one point but they couldn’t deal with the hundreds that turned up so sent us back. Chaos.”
Another post said: “An absolute disgrace! First train delayed from Rugby to London Euston. When it turned up we were told to get off at Northampton. Finally got on a later train for us to get to Bletchley to again be told we need to get off as there is no signal to London Euston.”
A third wrote: “It seems like every time I leave London Euston to go home, there’s some sort of palaver!”
Another said: “Currently stranded at Tring station as train cancelled to London Euston and no trains in or out of Tring for a few hours.”
Meanwhile one disgruntled passenger described the chaos as “pure hell”.
