Heat brings commuter meltdown

Hundreds of thousands of Tube, bus and rail passengers suffered commuter meltdown on their journeys home as a result of record temperatures.

Transport operators described the evening as "one of the most unpleasant" on record throughout London, the south and southeast.

On the buses temperatures soared to 108F. On mainline railways track temperatures reached a record of almost 124F causing chaos as trains slowed down amid fears the tracks would buckle.

Temperatures on the Tube remained in the nineties after a day in which the Evening Standard revealed that morning commuters had to endure more than 98F.

Evening Standard took its heatometer on to the buses and found stifling conditions.

Sweat-drenched passengers on the No 27 from Kensington to Turnham Green fanned themselves with newspapers in 108F heat, and conditions were little better on a No 52 between Notting Hill to Ladbroke Grove where the temperature reached 99F.

The readings were taken on modern low-floor double deckers, which have replaced old-style conductor buses. The windows of the No 27 were open and the driver insisted fans were on full blast.

Shop assistant Nicky Simpson, 20, was desperately fanning her two-year-old daughter Mya who had collapsed on her lap as they travelled towards Chiswick. She said: "This is just unbearable. The windows are open but they don't make any difference. When it's stuck in traffic it is worst. The air just doesn't move, it's completely stagnant. My daughter conked out as soon as we got on. Surely it wouldn't be that difficult to install air conditioning?"

Student Magda Kolenk, 22, and her boyfriend Mariusz Jlenski, 22, boarded the bus on its return journey from Turnham Green to north London.

Ms Kolenk said: "I feel horrible. We are going all the way to Camden so it's going to be a nightmare. It's so silly that they don't have windows at the front any more. It's so hot you can't breath. It's very tiring."

One bus driver who had just finished an eight-hour shift said: Even if it's only hot for one or two months of the year, the buses should be air-conditioned. People are boiling and for drivers it's difficult to stay awake."

On the Tube a second set of readings revealed commuters on Victoria line having to put up with 90F early last night.

With all the seats taken, tax accountant Brian Willis, 36, had

to brave 90.2F standing."It's crazy," he said, as he sweated between Oxford Circus and King's Cross just after 8pm."It really annoys me because we already pay some of the highest fares in Europe.

Prison service manager Steve Watson said: "It has been unbearable." The 40-year-old from Kent, who had travelled from Euston to Victoria at 89.1 F, added: ""There should be investment. London needs a top quality underground system. If trains can have air conditioning, then why not the Tube?"

When those Tube and bus passengers arrived at mainline rail stations to continue their journeys home they faced yet more problems. More than 200,000 were delayed due to a combination of speed limits as a direct result of the high temperatures, signal faults, defective track and a road vehicle crashing into a rail bridge which caused the lines to be closed resulted in widespread chaos.

The trouble began after Network Rail (NR) ordered a blanket 60 mph speed limit.