Stranded rail commuters were offered bus travel when thousands of Glasgow Rangers fans packed out trains in Lancashire.
Hundreds of people were forced to wait on platforms at Preston, Chorley and Leyland stations after finding trains were full on Wednesday morning.
Around 100,000 Rangers supporters are expected to descend on Manchester for the UEFA Cup final Wednesday night.
Many who could not find hotel beds in Manchester have been staying in Lancashire.
Northern Rail arranged buses to transport commuters stuck in Blackpool.
And Virgin Trains, which operates the West Coast mainline between Preston and Glasgow, warned people without reservations that they may not be able to board some jam-packed services.
A Northern Rail spokesman said: "It's just been the sheer volume of people but every carriage we have got is out there and we are doing everything we can to get people moving."
A Virgin spokesman said most supporters expected to travel from Glasgow had boarded trains by mid-morning on Wednesday and problems were expected to ease in the afternoon.
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