ANGRY rail passengers have hit out after weekend train chaos left hundreds of people stranded due to a signal failure.

Some people were forced to stay in York overnight on Saturday after disruption on the East Coast Main Line at Northallerton, in North Yorkshire.

Network Rail said a system failure turned all signals red at around 1pm and wasn’t fixed until around 6.45pm. Five passenger services and five freight trains between York and Northallerton were brought to a halt.

Frustration spread among customers as a string of services between London and Edinburgh were disrupted or cancelled.

Claire Dixon, from Washington, was waiting with her mother Pauline Hall, 76, at London King’s Cross when the announcement came.

She got home at 1am yesterday and said panic spread when crowds of people squashed onto one train heading north.

“I am so angry,” she said. “Everybody just ran. There had to be about 500 people trying to get through the barriers.

“Nobody knew what was happening. There was no organisation whatsoever.”

She said her mother’s hand was bruised when a fight broke out and somebody fell on her.

“When we got to York it was manic,” she said. “It was just horrible. There was drunkenness and swearing and smoking.”

Government-run operator East Coast later provided replacement bus services to get people between stations.

Some passengers on a Grand Central train had to walk along the track to a level crossing after waiting for six hours for alternative travel.

A Network Rail spokeswoman said: “Obviously for those people on these trains there has been significant disruption.

“We can only offer our sincere apologies.”

British Transport Police stressed the delays were not caused by cable theft.

No-one was available at either East Coast or Grand Central for comment yesterday.