but it’s misery for thousands trying to board trains
THOUSANDS of Bank Holiday travellers were left stranded across southern England yesterday as railway engineering work caused travel misery.
Passengers trying to reach the south coast described scenes of “absolute chaos” with packed carriages and rail replacement buses.
Southern Rail even advised people to avoid Brighton trains due to overcrowding.
One Brighton resident tweeted: “What do you recommend, I sleep on the streets in London?”
At one point people leaving Gatwick Airport faced a two-hour wait to board rail replacement buses put on by Southern and Govia Thameslink to bypass engineering work.
And up to 4,000 people are thought to have been stranded at stations between London Victoria and Gatwick with some people missing flights.
One, Aimee Atkinson, said, “Trains were absolutely rammed” and claimed people were fighting as they tried to get out of Gatwick and on to buses replacing trains.
Both rail companies apologised. Southern said: “Demand has been incredibly high and we have been getting as many buses as possible through.”
Govia Thameslink said that between 11.30-12.30pm there were around 1,500-2,000 waiting for replacement buses. And the disruption is set to continue today.
Anthony Smith, of watchdog Transport Focus, said: “These works and the weather were no surprise – so why has Southern failed to provide enough buses?”
A Gatwick spokeswoman said flights had not been affected by the rail disruption.