Winter weather leaves festive plans in chaos
Dec 22 2010 by Alastair Craig, The Journal
CHRISTMAS travellers were last night promised an end was in sight for rail and air chaos which left festive plans in ruin yesterday.
In the North East, train passengers hoping to reach London directly on the East Coast Main Line or return from the capital were hit by the route’s shutdown.
Hundreds of passengers were evacuated from trains yesterday morning as the icy weather continued to cripple the country.
People were forced to abandon six trains between London King’s Cross and Peterborough following damage to overhead power lines near Huntingdon.
Passengers heading North were advised to use alternative services from St Pancras, heading to Yorkshire.
East Coast laid on 63 replacement coaches at Peterborough and Huntingdon to take passengers to and from Cambridge, where they could join connecting train services to and from London’s Liverpool Street station.
East Coast said Network Rail would begin working on the downed power lines at 11pm last night and operate a near normal timetable between London King’s Cross and Scotland from this morning.
Susan Simmons, 54, a housewife from Newcastle, was stranded last night at King’s Cross with her daughter Andrea, 15, after a Christmas shopping trip in London.
She said: "Our train was supposed to depart at 10am but we got here to find it cancelled.
"We were told to go to Euston so we went all the way there – but then we were told that train was full and the hotel at Euston was full. British Transport Police sent us back to King’s Cross to get a coach – but there was no coach and so we were back to square one."
East Coast managing director, Karen Boswell, said: "We apologise for the inconvenience experienced by passengers travelling yesterday as a result of the disruption caused by overhead line damage.
"We appreciate that many people are travelling home for Christmas over the next few days and our staff are working as hard as possible to ensure our passengers arrive at their final destination with minimal disruption."
