A night on the rack...ordeal of passengers stuck on train for 12 hours
AFTER hours stuck on a train, with no food, no heating, and no news, this man desperately wanted his bed.
So he did the next best thing – and tried to snuggle down on a luggage rack.
He was just one of hundreds of commuters who endured a ‘night of hell’ as they were left stranded on freezing trains for more than 12 hours with no heating, lights or loos.
As rails froze in sub-zero temperatures, five separate services ground to a halt in the New Forest, trapping passengers. One driver locked himself in his cabin to avoid questions from commuters.
The first train to stop was the 17.05 London Waterloo to Weymouth South Western Railway service.
It later merged with the 18.24 Southampton to Poole train before they came to a halt near Christchurch in Dorset. The stuck train blocked the line and left at least three other trains stranded as well. Last night infuriated commuters told how they were left to endure the night in freezing temperatures.
Isabella Light, 19, was on the 18.24 service, heading home to Bournemouth. The geography student told MailOnline: ‘It was quite a traumatic night. I didn’t sleep at all. It was -2C and there was no heating – the train had lost all power and we were in complete darkness for three hours. There was only a packet of biscuits to go round, so we had one each. We just had to make friends with each other and we kept warm by listening to music and dancing.’
Robert Luther was among about 100 passengers on a five- carriage electric train which left Waterloo for Weymouth.
He said: ‘It’s fortunate people had winter clothing – it looked like we were going on ski trip. The toilet pans were full up and we couldn’t get off the train either.
‘It shouldn’t happen in this day and age, it’s not as if we’ve got three foot of snow on the tracks.’
Passenger Paula Baker – who was travelling on the 17.05 train to Weymouth – issued a desperate video message in which she pleaded for help as she said: ‘We’ve lost the feeling in our fingers and toes. We’re freezing cold, we’re hungry, we’re tired. We’re fed up.
‘We are stuck in the middle of nowhere with just banks of snow either side, and have been for a good three or four hours now. No heating, no refreshments – no water or anything.’
She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: ‘We’ve had no toilet facilities, no heating and no information for 13 odd hours. We had passengers threatening to walk off the train.’
She added that while a guard had apologised, the train driver had locked himself in his cab.
She continued: ‘We moved a foot at 2.30am and stopped again. The driver didn’t come out to speak to us. Somebody asked for the driver to come out and explain to everyone what was going on and that wasn’t forthcoming.’
Another commuter, Philip Brown, later told how he had endured more than 15 hours on his train.
The 49-year-old, who was travelling to Bournemouth, added: ‘I couldn’t tell you how cold it was but it was cold enough to prevent you from sleeping. People were taking it in their stride. They were wrapping jumpers round their legs trying to keep warm.’ Passengers were finally freed at 8.30am when a Crosscountry train arrived to rescue them.
Nicky Marcelin-Horne was on the 17.35 Waterloo to Poole train. She told the London Evening Standard: ‘The guys on the train were trying to help and keep us informed but they didn’t really know what was happening.
‘Then the heating went down. One girl had gloves on her feet she was so cold. We were on the train for nine hours with foil covers over our legs.’
South Western Railway later issued a statement which read: ‘We sincerely apologise to passengers who were stranded on trains overnight.’
However a spokesman could not explain the actions of the driver in refusing to speak to passengers and locking himself in his cab.
Network Rail added in a statement yesterday: ‘We worked closely with South Western Railway and the emergency services through the night who responded to the most vulnerable passengers.’
‘No heating, no food, no toilets’