3,000 passengers stranded on trains for four hours

Three thousand London-bound passengers were trapped on trains for up to four hours after a breakdown and power failure on the East Coast main line.

Police were called to King's Cross
station just after midnight to control the crowds after three delayed trains pulled in. Some passengers were still waiting for taxis at 3am.

Passengers today told of a "miserable night" stuck in the dark with little or no information. The problems began when the 5.50pm from Leeds stopped near Stevenage because of a technical problem.

Two other trains, the 1.50pm East Coast service from Aberdeen and the 8pm Peterborough First Capital Connect train, were also affected. Passenger Steve Langan, 49, said the experience was "ghastly", adding: "The train suddenly stopped and all the lights went out.

"The guard's announcements started off sane and rational, but as the hours ticked by he started saying that he didn't know what was going to happen.

"It was a pretty miserable night. You couldn't find a member of staff on the train for love nor money and when we got to King's Cross there were no taxis, so there was a huge explosion of people on to Euston Road."

Another passenger said: "There were scenes of complete chaos for hours on end on the train. Information was sparse."

East Coast trains today said they would refund the cost of passengers' tickets on their two affected services and that taxis were provided by the company for passengers when they reached London.

A spokeswoman said: "East Coast apologises for the inconvenience caused and an investigation is under way to identify the cause of the technical problem on the 17.50 Leeds to King's Cross service." A Network Rail spokesman apologised for a "problem with the power supply".

South West Trains services into London Waterloo were delayed in the morning rush hour because of a fire at Petersfield in Hampshire.