How a 4-hour train journey turned into ‘a day from hell’

MULTIPLE DELAYS, CANCELLATIONS, A £108 TAXI RIDE AND BACK HOME THE NEXT MORNING

WHAT should have been a four-hour journey from Cardiff to North Wales took nearly 12 hours after passengers were dumped off a Transport for Wales train and told to wait for a bus.

Caernarfon man Ellis Thomas had spent the day at the Cardiff Christmas markets with his partner before boarding the 3.23pm train home.

The journey, which typically takes four hours, took nearly 12 hours after multiple delays and cancellations.

The 22-year-old finally arrived back in Bangor, where he had parked his car, just after 2am.

Ellis described the criss-cross journey as a “day from hell”.

It all started to go wrong just one stop in as he rolled into Newport.

He explained that passengers were told the train was terminating there and anyone heading north was advised to catch the next train to Manchester instead – which was due to leave at any moment.

As Ellis and his partner sprinted over the bridge between platforms, the Manchester-bound train pulled away.

He said: “There were 50 people running over the bridge and when the train left, some people just lost it. I just thought it is what it is and waited.”

The train disruption was caused by a broken section of track at Craven Arms in Shropshire, which affected services on Wednesday and into Thursday.

By late afternoon, staff advised the pair to catch the train to Hereford, which was “at least more northern”. But as the train reached Abergavenny, it halted and the driver said there was a red light ahead.

It then stayed put for two hours, not moving, said Ellis.

“We were just sat on the train outside the station for two hours,” he said.

When they eventually got to Hereford, two hours later than planned, they heard the track had been fixed and the service could continue to Manchester. But one stop out from Craven Arms, the train ground to a halt again due to further faults down the line.

There was another twohour wait in a two-carriage train with no drinks trolley and one toilet out of order.

Another announcement told them the train would terminate at Craven Arms and a bus would offer onward transport.

“Craven Arms is a small station, with no staff, and around 100 of us were just dumped there,” Ellis said.

“We all just stood there in the car park, waiting for the bus.”

When it arrived, there were just 10 seats on it, he claimed, and Ellis was “lucky” to get on.

“Next thing, everyone was pushing for the bus and ramming the door,” Ellis added.

The bus only took them as far as Shrewsbury, which meant Ellis had still only completed twothirds of his journey and it was by now approaching midnight.

He waited an hour at Shrewsbury for the next train to Chester, which was then cancelled and, in desperation, he phoned for a taxi instead.

Shelling out £50 for a cab, they were halfway to Chester when his train app said the 00.40 am train to Bangor was cancelled, too.

Ellis said: “I just thought we’ll have to get a taxi all the way home. We went right through mid-Wales, Corwen, Bala, Capel Curig, all the way to Bangor,” he said.

The taxi ride cost £108, on top of the £44 he’d paid for the original ticket, and it was 2am when he finally got home.

So exhausted from his near-12 hour journey, Ellis said he slept in until lunchtime the next day to recover.

He is due to travel back to Cardiff this weekend and is hopeful he has a more straightforward journey home.

A spokesperson for Transport for Wales said: “Unfortunately, due to a broken track near Craven Arms, there was a significant disruption to services on all routes in the area on Wednesday.

“As this section of track was being repaired a second defect was discovered and this resulted in further disruption into Thursday morning, while repairs were carried out by our partners at Network Rail.

“We agreed ticket acceptance with three other operators to help passengers continue their journeys where possible and replacement road transport was put in place.

“While this incident was out of our control, we understand delays and cancellations are frustrating for passengers and we would like to apologise to Mr Thomas for any inconvenience this may have caused.

“Passengers whose journeys are delayed by more than 15 minutes, or cancelled, can claim for compensation via the Delay Repay portal on the Transport for Wales website.”