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Rail passengers vent frustration amid train delays at London stations Rail watchdog promises investigation into London travel chaos
(about 1 hour later)
Passengers struggling to return home after the Christmas break have endured “misery on top of misery” after all services from London’s King’s Cross station to the north were cancelled and the local station where the re-routed trains were due to start their journeys was shut due to the resulting overcrowding. The Office of Rail Regulation will launch an investigation into serious travel disruption caused by overrunning engineering works in London, which led to services to and from two major stations being cancelled and chaotic overcrowding at a local station to which some trains were re-routed.
National Rail confirmed it was forced to temporarily close Finsbury Park in north London due to overcrowding at around 11.30am on Saturday. Large numbers of passengers had arrived there after overrunning engineering works on the east coast mainline meant trains were scrapped at King’s Cross. King’s Cross station remained closed on Saturday after Network Rail failed to complete maintenance work on the east coast mainline. Travellers were told to use Finsbury Park instead but the north London station was closed temporarily on Saturday morning due to overcrowding. Hundreds of passengers endured waits of more than two hours to enter or leave the platforms after the station reopened.
Travellers trying to get to and from the west of England also suffered serious disruption to their journeys after all lines out of Paddington were blocked by a signalling fault, Network Rail said. “Network Rail, working with the rest of the industry, must learn lessons and prevent problems like this happening again,” the railway watchdog said.
Paddington had already been running limited services because of engineering works scheduled to last until 5 January. Ch Supt Paul Brogden of the British Transport Police said the queue to enter Finsbury Park after it had reopened was about an hour long, with a similar wait for passengers on trains to arrive and disembark.
First Great Western said overrunning engineering works were further exacerbating the problem. In a statement, the train operator said: “Due to overrunning engineering work in the London Paddington area, services are not running between London Paddington and Reading, which is resulting in cancellations and delays.” One traveller said they had been waiting outside Finsbury Park for two hours, however. “Into hour 5 and we’ve been stuck outside Finsbury for 2 and it’s bloody freezing in carriage E!,” Kidneychops tweeted.
Travellers at Finsbury Park took to Twitter to vent their frustration. Jim Ewing tweeted a picture of the station concourse jammed with travellers, adding that he had been stuck in a corridor for more than an hour. “It’s crazy here, disorganised chaos,” he wrote. Into hour 5 and we've been stuck outside Finsbury for 2 and it's bloody freezing in carriage E! @eastcoastuk @networkrail #KingsCrossTrains
Brogden added that “temporary control measures” had been implemented – meaning people were temporarily prevented from entering the station to ease congestion.
Travellers at Finsbury Park vented their frustration on Twitter. Jim Ewing tweeted a picture of the station concourse jammed with travellers, adding that he had been stuck in a corridor for more than an hour. “It’s crazy here, disorganised chaos,” he wrote.
Avoid Finsbury Park #railway & #underground it's crazy here, stuck in a corridor over 1hr, disorganised chaos #London pic.twitter.com/wLyL1qnSnv
Willard Foxton tweeted a photo of the chaos outside, adding: “Queue to get into Finsbury park. Whatever genius had the plan ‘send all of Kings X here’ should be fired.”Willard Foxton tweeted a photo of the chaos outside, adding: “Queue to get into Finsbury park. Whatever genius had the plan ‘send all of Kings X here’ should be fired.”
Travellers into London were also facing waits of upto to two hours to enter Finsbury Park station. Queue to get into Finsbury park. Whatever genius had the plan "send all of Kings X here" should be fired. pic.twitter.com/bc9pOSQoUn
Chief Superintendent Paul Brogden of the British Transport Police said the queue to enter Finsbury Park Station after it had reopened was about an hour long, with a further hour for trains to disembark and arrive. One traveller, Kidney Chops, tweeted that they had been waitng outside Finsbury Park for two hours, however. “Into hour 5 and we’ve been stuck outside Finsbury for 2 and it’s bloody freezing in carriage E!,” they said. https://twitter.com/kidney_chops/status/548861066785329152 Once on the trains misery continued, with passengers tweeting pictures of packed carriages with people standing crowded together in aisles.
Chief Supt Brogden added that “temporary control measures” had been implemented to manage crowd flow - meaning people were temporarily prevented from entering the station to ease congestion. @Morningsidemole @networkrail I hope so. But it's a long journey to be standing up for #chaos pic.twitter.com/WYNbZWBc3m
Once on the trains misery continued, with passengers tweeting pictures of packed carriages with people standing crowded together in aisles. https://twitter.com/EmmaFergie90/status/548863138888970241/photo/1 Travellers trying to get to and from the west of England also suffered serious disruption to their journeys after all lines out of Paddington were blocked by a signalling fault, Network Rail said.
The shadow transport secretary, Michael Dugher, said the government needed to get a grip on the travel chaos. First Great Western said overrunning engineering works, with no trains running between London Paddington and Reading, were further exacerbating the problem. The train operator advised Paddington passengers to use alternative routes with South West Trains and Chiltern Trains and has offered refunds to travellers who decide not to travel on Saturday.
West coast mainline services are also not running between London Euston and Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire until 29 December, due to engineering works.
The shadow transport secretary, Michael Dugher, said passengers had endured “misery on top of misery” .
“Ministers are responsible for piling misery on top of misery for those who have to rely on our railway,” he said. “It was the government that allowed almost the entire rail network to be shut down during Boxing Day, one of the busiest bank holidays of the year.“Ministers are responsible for piling misery on top of misery for those who have to rely on our railway,” he said. “It was the government that allowed almost the entire rail network to be shut down during Boxing Day, one of the busiest bank holidays of the year.
“Now we see this further unacceptable disruption, just as people try to get home after Christmas and at a time when many of our roads have experienced severe problems because of the bad weather.”“Now we see this further unacceptable disruption, just as people try to get home after Christmas and at a time when many of our roads have experienced severe problems because of the bad weather.”
King’s Cross was closed on Friday evening for 24 hours as work to install new overhead power cables on tracks running north of the station took longer than expected.King’s Cross was closed on Friday evening for 24 hours as work to install new overhead power cables on tracks running north of the station took longer than expected.
Before Christmas, Network Rail warned passengers that a £200m engineering project scheduled between Christmas and New Year would affect stations across the network, with an estimated 11,000 engineers working on Christmas Day.Before Christmas, Network Rail warned passengers that a £200m engineering project scheduled between Christmas and New Year would affect stations across the network, with an estimated 11,000 engineers working on Christmas Day.
Paul Emberley, a spokesman for East Coast Trains, said: “Network Rail has apologised to passengers for the inevitable delays to their travel plans on Saturday as a result of the overrunning engineering works.Paul Emberley, a spokesman for East Coast Trains, said: “Network Rail has apologised to passengers for the inevitable delays to their travel plans on Saturday as a result of the overrunning engineering works.
“East Coast is particularly sorry, too, for the inconvenience to its customers as a result on what we know is an already very busy travel day immediately following the Christmas break.“East Coast is particularly sorry, too, for the inconvenience to its customers as a result on what we know is an already very busy travel day immediately following the Christmas break.
“For customers intending to start or finish their journey at King’s Cross, consideration should be given to deferring travel plans to either Sunday or Monday.“For customers intending to start or finish their journey at King’s Cross, consideration should be given to deferring travel plans to either Sunday or Monday.
“We’re working hard over the holiday period to make the necessary adjustments to our timetable as a consequence, and to provide as much information as we can.”“We’re working hard over the holiday period to make the necessary adjustments to our timetable as a consequence, and to provide as much information as we can.”
A Department for Transport spokesman said: “It is extremely disappointing that Network Rail’s engineering works have overrun and will affect travellers during this festive season, passengers will be rightly annoyed.A Department for Transport spokesman said: “It is extremely disappointing that Network Rail’s engineering works have overrun and will affect travellers during this festive season, passengers will be rightly annoyed.
“This was essential work but passengers need to be able to plan and rely on Network Rail meeting its deadlines for having the network back in service.“This was essential work but passengers need to be able to plan and rely on Network Rail meeting its deadlines for having the network back in service.
“The department is in contact with Network Rail to understand what went wrong and if lessons can be learned for the future.”“The department is in contact with Network Rail to understand what went wrong and if lessons can be learned for the future.”