Passengers stranded at old Filton Station

[madhattie]

http://tinyurl.com/3wqrp (Evening Post)

Passengers travelling from Bristol to Wales were left stranded for hours when the train they were on got stuck on the tracks. Around 30 passengers were on the 1.32pm train from Portsmouth Harbour to Cardiff, which called at Bristol Temple Meads at 3.50pm on New Year's Day.

But when the train passed the old Filton station it ran over a 15ft pipe on the tracks and was forced to stop because the bar was lodged underneath it.

One passenger said there was a big shudder and it felt as if the train was going to derail.

A mobile fitter and the operations manager from Network Rail were called in to investigate the situation and cutting equipment had to be brought in to remove the pipe.

Caleb Harris, from Montpelier, was on his way to Swansea.

He said: "We were sitting on the train and there was no heating.

"We were offered free drinks for a couple of hours but then the steward left the train with the trolley at 6pm so we had nothing.

"Some of the passengers were on their way home or going to see friends and family for dinner and parties.

"They were pretty upset."

Passengers were told a taxi would take them one group at a time to the new Filton Abbeywood station where a coach would pick them up and stop at Newport then Cardiff. Mr Harris, aged 30, was one of the first five passengers to be taken by taxi to the wait for the coach.

He said: "Five of us nearest the door were put in the taxi when we were dropped off. It was dark, cold and raining and there were no staff around.

"The taxi driver said he had to pick up some more of the passengers and just went.

"There was no shelter around because there was construction work going on and a 15-year-old boy among the group didn't even have a coat."

They waited there 15 minutes before the taxi driver returned to tell them there had been a mistake and that the coach was going to pick them up from the train.

But when they arrived back at the train, the coach had already picked up the rest of the passengers and gone without them.

Martyn Zavishlock, 18, from Abergavenny, who was travelling with his mum Hazel, said: "We were dumped in the dark and the rain for absolutely no reason."

Because all the train staff had left, the maintenance engineer filled out a form and told the taxi driver to drop everyone to their destination.

Hazel Zavishlock said: "The organisation in getting us off that train was absolutely disgusting.

"It makes me wonder how long help would have been in coming."

Mr Harris said: "The taxi stopped at Newport and Cardiff and then dropped me off at Swansea at around 10pm so it took me six hours to make what should have been at maximum a two-and-a-half hour journey. It was a real farce."

British Transport Police based at Temple Meads Station said they did not believe the accident was caused by vandalism.

Sergeant Sean Boyle said: "It is believed that the pipe may have been left by the side of the track by workers."

A spokeswoman for Wessex Trains said that customers were given refreshments and that the train was evacuated just after 6pm.

She said there was a delay in getting transport, partly because it was New Year's Day.

She added: "All the passengers, so far as we are aware, were conveyed to where they wanted to go.

"We do apologise to our passengers about this delay. It was completely unforeseen as far as we were concerned.

"If any of our passengers wish to write to customer services we can follow that up."

Complaints can be made via www.wessextrains.co.uk

[James]

British Transport Police based at Temple Meads Station said they did not believe the accident was caused by vandalism.

Sergeant Sean Boyle said: "It is believed that the pipe may have been left by the side of the track by workers."

That's the part that sticks in my mind...

No one will be found responsible though because it was left there by SUBCONTRACTORS

Anyway, it's a shame you weren't on that train...you could've got some nice pics of Filton

[madhattie]

Anyway, it's a shame you weren't on that train...you could've got some nice pics of Filton

What I need is a nice friendly driver to let me sit in the cab of a 143 (or something) on the Cardiff run, or a guard to let me sit in the rear cab (with the usual pose of feet up and newspaper spread out in front of me ) so i can take pics while we trundle through the station.