LONDON: Ticket machines operated by the British government-run Northern Trains have been put out of action by a suspected cyber-attack intended to extort money, the company said on Monday.

The servers that operate the ticket machines were the only system affected, it said in an emailed statement.

“This is the subject of an ongoing investigation with our supplier, but indications are that the ticket machine service has been subject to a ransomware cyber-attack,” it said.

Northern Trains said no customer or payment data had been compromised, and that customers could still buy tickets online.

The Northern rail franchise, which runs trains between towns and cities across northern England including Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield, was nationalised in 2020 after years of delays, cancellations and strikes.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2021