Train passengers near Bournemouth stranded ALL NIGHT as freezing weather causes travel chaos

Hundreds of train passengers were stranded all night in freezing temperatures on services in the south west which were crippled by the UK's big freeze.

They told today of a “night of hell” after spending some 15 hours trapped in sub-zero temperatures, forced to sleep on luggage racks and huddled under foil blankets.

It began when Thursday's 17.05 South Western Railway service from Waterloo to Weymouth came to a halt near Christchurch, Dorset, prompting tailbacks along the line.

The third rail on the track, from which trains draw power, had frozen, Network Rail said.

At least five services broke down on the route between London and the south coast.

Meanwhile about 100 passengers who boarded the 17.35 service from Waterloo to Bournemouth were still stuck on the train this morning after spending the night with no power, heating, limited food and water, they said.

UK Weather: Beast from the East train journey from Hell - In pictures

1/10

Alyssa Robinson, a 26-year-old Canadian masters student at Bournemouth University, was stranded on a train after visiting her father in hospital in Bristol.

She said: “I’m kind of shocked that for a country as populus and built up as England that a tiny, tiny little bit of snow is able to bring an entire country to a standstill.

“I’m Canadian so I’m used to very intense winters but sitting on a broken down train and looking out the window and realising I could still see the grass through the snow… I don’t understand how in 2018 a major, major train company is not set up to deal with a tiny bit of snow. It’s utterly mind-blowing to me.

“There were moments where I was reduced to tears,” she added. “There were definitely some pretty scary moments.

“For the first few hours I was very annoyed and then about four hours in, I was really, really angry, and then after that I just didn’t have it in me to be angry anymore. I was just exhausted and upset and wanted to be at home."

Nicky Marcelin-Horne was on board the 17.35 from Waterloo to Poole, Dorset, when it became stuck in Brockenhurst in the New Forest.

She said: “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.

UK Weather: Beast from the East freeze - In pictures

1/64

"We all got together in one carriage to keep warm. 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.

“At 2am an engineer arrived in a taxi so we managed to get a few people off and home, but some people were still on the way home this morning.”

Student Catherine Belchamber was trying to visit her family in Hamworthy near Poole for the weekend from Portsmouth.

She told the Standard: “We haven’t had any water for about eight hours now. We lost all power, the heating is off, there’s no water, the toilets not flushing.

“It was getting increasingly cold and then this morning we realised the air con was on and we mentioned this to the driver and said do you think we could turn it off and he said ‘oh yeah, that’s a really good idea’ as if it had never crossed his mind.

“It was ridiculous. We ended up opening up our suitcases and putting on clothes that we’d packed.

“The lights went off as well, so it was pitch black during the night.

“There was an elderly man on the train who looked quite lonely, who had been visiting his wife in hospital in Southampton. He’d left at 2.30pm. He was using his wife’s dressing gown to keep himself warm - I felt so sorry for him.

“There were a few people that were really angry, obviously, and irritable, but all in all I think everyone was OK.”

Meanwhile one person wrote on Twitter: "Will I get compensation for being stranded on the 17:35 train from Waterloo to Bournemouth for 7 hours (5 hours at standstill) and counting?

"A mere refund doesn't even begin to cover it. No food, water, heat or idea when we'll be moving."

Liv Thurlow wrote: “Been stuck on train to #Bournemouth at #Southampton since 10pm - now almost 4am with no further info!!!

“Full 9 coaches here - worried for when the power runs out?!?”

Samantha Blackburn shared pictures of friends sleeping on luggage racks and making makeshift shelters in the trains in an attempt to keep warm on the 17.30 train from Waterloo to Poole.

She added: “What is going on @SW_Help !!

“Friends #stranded on the 17.30 from #Waterloo to #Poole, stuck at #Brokenhurst, on a train with no power, no heating left In the cold with no news. #Snow is heavy.”

Shane White wrote: "Really not happy now, stuck on the train near New Milton on way to Bournemouth at 0324 in the morning having left Cardiff at 1630 last night, train in front broke down, then this one has spent nearly 5 hours trying to get power from a frozen track, no connection due to ice."

He later tweeted video footage of people queuing for coffee after they finally arrived in Bournemouth on Friday morning.

A South Western Railway spokesman said delays were expected until noon.

He added: "We sincerely apologise to passengers who were stranded on trains overnight. They have all been taken to Bournemouth station where South Western Railway staff are providing hot food and drinks.

"Hotel accommodation will be provided for those unable to travel onwards from Bournemouth.

"Our staff, together with Network Rail have battled tirelessly throughout the night to try to get trains moving in very challenging conditions, and will continue to do so throughout the day.

"We are advising passengers not to attempt to travel today, but for those who have already started their journey, we recommend they return as soon as possible.

"Due to the continued extreme weather conditions, we will be closing the train service early today."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in