Rail commuters in London and the south-east faced further disruption on Friday morning, with trains passing through the UK’s busiest interchange still cancelled or delayed after Thursday’s power cut.
Southern trains has cancelled several services running through Clapham Junction, and many more running with fewer carriages than usual because of damage caused by a severe electrical fault.
Passengers were trapped on trains for up to five hours on Thursday after the fault led to a loss of power supply on the line, with more than 900 people having to be rescued from the tracks outside Wandsworth Common station.
No Southern services were able to run in or out of Victoria station in Londonfor much of the day. Delays continued through the night as attempts were made to regulate the service.
Been at work for 12 hours, am sitting on the floor at East Croydon station having a cry. Just want to go home 😢
— Aneesha (@IAmAneesha) April 30, 2015
@SouthernRailUK 9 hours spent travelling yesterday on Lewes to London route. What are you doing about compensation?
— The Zeitgeist Agency (@Zeitgeistagency) May 1, 2015
@SouthernRailUK why would you run shorter trains for commute home when you know there's been major delays all morning?? Crazy
— Tom Henderson (@hendo_007) April 30, 2015
Just another casual 2.5/3hr commute from Vauxhall to Oxted via London Bridge .@SouthernRailUK #Standard #BestTrainLineInUK
— Pete Westwood (@westwood_pete) April 30, 2015
Southern said in a statement on its website: “Following a problem with the conductor rail yesterday which has resulted in damage to electrical equipment on a number of our train carriages coupled with the severe disruption to train services yesterday which has displaced many of our carriages, we do expect to have some short-formed train services and some alterations especially at the start of service today.”
04:57 Our teams are working hard to minimise yesterday's disruption impact, but some routes and services will inevitably be affected.
— SouthernRailUK (@SouthernRailUK) May 1, 2015
SERVICE UPDATE 07:20 We're operating with numerous short forms across the network after yesterdays disruption: http://t.co/citlFJUzCa
— SouthernRailUK (@SouthernRailUK) May 1, 2015
Services from Three Bridges, Brighton, East Grinstead, Bognor Regis, Reigate, Horsham and Littlehampton were all experiencing disruption on Friday. Southern customers with tickets dated Thursday would be able to use them to travel on Friday, the company said.
Problems began at 9am on Thursday between Clapham Junction and Wandsworth Common, with some passengers who departed Brighton and other south-coast towns in the early morning only arriving in London well past lunchtime.
Passengers described being trapped in sweltering temperatures and staff had to ration water to make sure enough could be handed out. Firefighters eventually used a short-extension ladder to evacuate travellers from one stranded service. One passenger was treated by London ambulance staff on a stationary train.
There had been delays involving Clapham Junction earlier in the rush hour due to a lineside fire that caused holdups to services on London Overground.
The Gatwick Express, which was suspended on Thursday, was operating normally on Friday morning.
