.Power failure sparked a 'total meltdown' on London trains this morning
- .Severe disruption expected this evening and Victoria should be avoided
- .Thousands of passengers were stranded on trains for five hours today
- .London Bridge and Clapham Junction expected to see significant delays
- .Are you stuck in the rush-hour rail chaos and do you have any pictures? Please email them to mark.duell@dailymail.co.uk or call 020 3615 1838
Thousands of commuters are facing a nightmare journey home tonight after a power failure sparked a 'total meltdown' on London trains - leaving many stranded for up to five hours.
Network Rail said severe disruption is expected to continue throughout the evening following the chaotic scenes this morning and warned commuters to avoid Victoria station 'at all costs'.
Passengers resorted to fighting each other to get on trains this morning after an electrical supply problem between Clapham Junction and Wandsworth in south-west London led to severe delays.
Trains between Balham and Victoria are running up to 90 minutes late tonight and there are significant delays at London Bridge and Clapham Junction because of the knock-on-effect.
Emergency services: British Transport Police officers began evacuating stranded train passengers to waiting buses at around 10am and water was passed through to others still stuck in sweltering temperatures on board
Chaotic scenes: Thousands of commuters were stranded on trains for up to five hours after a power failure at Clapham Junction station (pictured) in south-west London
Three of the four lines through the area are now open and engineers are working to complete repairs and remove damaged trains from the tracks.
Network Rail urged evening rush-hour passengers to consider starting their journeys either earlier or later than normal and to check with websites and social media before travelling.
Commuters are being warned to steer clear of Victoria, with Gatwick Express services from the station among the worst affected, and seek routes from Blackfriars and Waterloo instead.
A queuing system will be in place for services for platforms 15 to 19 at Victoria.
Underground services at Victoria station are expected to be 'busier than usual', according to a Transport for London spokesman.
He said: 'We've had more people using the station throughout the day as a knock-on effect of the delays.'
More than 900 passengers on the 7.02am Southern Trains service between East Grinstead and Victoria were evacuated at 11.36am after a 'horrendous' wait with limited water supplies.
British Transport Police started evacuating passengers on the stranded 7.02am service at 10am and passed water to others trapped on board with no air conditioning.
PC James Vernon, 40, was one of the 900 passengers rescued and admitted conditions on board were 'horrendous'.
He said: 'It was absolutely stifling on board the train, it was horrendous. There was so much mis-information about what was going to happen.
'When they decided we were going to be evacuated, we had to wait for everyone to go down two metal steps and go one person at a time along the railway line.'
Aid: Fire officers help a man disembark from the stranded 7.02am service to London using a makeshift ladder
Helped off: One train carrying more than 900 passengers between East Grinstead and Victoria was evacuated
Services in and out of Victoria station were suspended, with the Gatwick Express unable to run and office workers hours late arriving in London.
Officers: British Transport Police started evacuating passengers on the stranded 7.02am service at 10am and passed water to others trapped on board
Three of the four lines between Clapham Junction and Wandsworth Common are now open and engineers are working to complete repairs.
A Network Rail spokesman said: 'Following this morning's damage to the power supply equipment between Clapham Junction and Wandsworth Common, three of the four lines through the area are now open and engineers are working hard to complete repairs as quickly and safely as possible.
'Services will continue to be disrupted while repairs are completed and major disruption to Southern services to and from Victoria can be expected this evening. Southern services to and from London Bridge will also be impacted.
'At Victoria station the entrance onto Buckingham Palace Road may be closed and the whole of the station is likely to be very busy with a queuing system in place for services on platforms 15 to 19. Other platforms will be busier than usual.'
One passenger had to be treated by ambulance staff on one of the stationary trains, while firefighters used a short-extension ladder to evacuate travellers from one held-up service.
Commuters heading to London from the South found they had to get off well short of their destination and travel in on other rail routes.
Many spoke of 'nightmare' conditions at Clapham Junction after the power failure.
One of the worst-affected trains was the 6.56am from Brighton which should have got into Victoria at 8.15am, but was still stuck near Clapham four hours later.
One of its passengers, student Hannah Phillips, 20, from Eastbourne, East Sussex, said: 'I was lucky that I was carrying a bottle of water with me as it was getting very hot on the train.
Heat: Sami Dodangeh tweeted a picture of police officers handing out water to passengers in stifling conditions
Walking off: Commuters on board the stranded 7.02am service took photographs of the evacuation process
Stranded: Up to 2,000 commuters were eventually led along tracks onto rail replacement buses today
'This is probably the worst train journey I've experienced.'
Another passenger on the held-up Brighton train was Ben Goode. He tweeted: 'This is a shambles.'
This is probably the worst train journey I've experienced
Hannah Phillips, stuck on the 6.56am train from Brighton to London Victoria
Anna Roberts, who works in Victoria, was also stuck on a London-bound train travelling from Brighton for more than four hours.
She said: 'Police and paramedics boarded our train because there is no air conditioning. They said they were bringing water but not enough for everyone to have one bottle each.
'Eventually we got water in plastic containers which are passing around carriage. We were told that was all that was available. With the power off, it's like an oven in here. Police have said it's too dangerous to walk down the track.'
Veterinary student Farid Rahman, 19, told the London Evening Standard: 'The train stopped and the problem was in the wheel of the carriage I was on. We could see sparks and smoke coming out from underneath.
Single file: The problem struck between Wandsworth Common and Clapham Junction in the middle of the morning rush hour. People are pictured being evacuated from one of the trains
Discussion: Hundreds of people took to social media to vent their frustration and Freya Richard posted this picture with the caption: 'How many people does it take to make a decision'
'The conductor kept us informed approximately every 30 minutes and eventually the police came, two hours in, and asked if anyone needed medical assistance.
Sami Dodangeh, 25, who works in Holborn as a political consultant, boarded a service from Brighton to Victoria shortly before 7am this morning.
'I got on about 6.50am to Victoria - we were stuck for more than three hours,' he said.
Gareth Humphreys said: 'I was stuck on the train heading from Sutton to Victoria, and will all the delays and sitting and waiting, a ticket inspector walked around checking tickets, what a cheek.'
And another commuter, who wished to remain anonymous, told MailOnline: ‘I've been commuting for some 20 years now from Haywards Heath to London Victoria.
‘Never in the last 20 years have I experienced such chaos, disruption and poor communication as I have done since January of this year. Whether it’s Network Rail or Southern, the entire system is a joke.
‘This morning it took me three and a half hours to get in, after 50 minutes at a standstill. We were dumped at Balham and left to find our own way into central London.
‘Last week there were at least two instances where my journey home was over three hours. It should be a 45-minute commute from Victoria to Haywards Heath.’
She added: ‘Personally, I'm considering giving up my job in London because the commute is too stressful. This will, of course, have a severe impact on my life financially.’
The problem struck between Wandsworth Common and Clapham Junction in the middle of the morning rush hour and hundreds took to social media to vent their frustration.
FiniasFinn tweeted: 'Clapham Junction is the worst station ever. I realise it's chaos but no staff helping and being arrogant is not a help.'
Sarah tweeted: 'Absolute chaos @ #Claphamjunction. Ppl fighting to get on trains, falling down gap between train & platform. It's dangerous @SouthernRailU.'
Thomas Michael Jules wrote: 'Avoid Clapham Junction today people! Mayhem!!'
With the power off, it's like an oven in here. Police have said it's too dangerous to walk down the track
Anna Roberts, stuck on a London-bound train travelling from Brighton
Mary-Jane said: 'Great, stuck on a damaged train without power just outside Clapham Junction! #claphamjunction #chaos.'
A person called Precious tweeted: 'Complete chaos at Clapham Junction this morning as trains are delayed left, right and centre. What a nightmare!'
A Network Rail spokeman said: 'A major power supply problem between Clapham and Wandsworth Common has disrupted Southern train services into London Victoria this morning.
'Engineers are on site and we aim to resume services as quickly as possible. Tickets are valid on all other routes into London and Southern passengers are advised to avoid travelling through Clapham Junction, which is very busy.
'We are very sorry for the disruption to people's journeys today. South West Trains services to and from Waterloo via Clapham Junction are unaffected but busy.
'We had to evacuate passengers from one stranded train with the assistance of the emergency services.
Walking away: Beckett Rankine posted this picture and said: 'Detrained outside Clapham Junction after power shoes stripped from train'
To safety: Video footage shows hundreds of passengers making their way one-by-one along the rail tracks
'Passengers have been incredibly co-operative and calm and we thank them for their help and understanding in what has been a very difficult morning for them.'
London Fire Brigade station manager Nic Myatt said crews were called at 10.03 on Thursday morning, adding: 'We are assisting Network Rail and British Transport police in detaining approximately 2,000 people along the tracks and on to a rail replacement bus service.'
Mick Cash, general secretary of the RMT rail union, said: 'Chaos at major London railway stations is now a matter of course as the reality of trying to shove growing passenger numbers into an overstretched and understaffed network hits home.
'It is about time Network Rail properly valued those staff who are battling to keep services moving that are routinely running right on the edge.
'The hundreds of millions of pounds bled from our railways by privatisation would have gone a long way to building in the capacity and reliability that passengers rightly demand.'
You can check before travelling by visiting southernrailway.com or nationalrail.co.uk, or following @SouthernRailUK or @NRE_Southern on Twitter.
Passengers can use London Underground, London Bus, London Tramlink, South West Trains, Southeastern and Thameslink services to complete their journey.
No comments:
Post a Comment