King's Cross trains cancelled for day

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 27 Desember 2014 | 19.22

27 December 2014 Last updated at 11:53

All trains to and from London King's Cross have been cancelled because of overrunning engineering.

Network Rail said the work near the station was part of a £200m Christmas investment programme and described the move as "regrettable and unfortunate".

Operators intend to run services into other stations but watchdog Passenger Focus said it was "frustrating".

The Department for Transport said it would have talks with Network Rail about the "disappointing" delay.

East Coast Trains said passengers would need to start or finish their journey at Finsbury Park in north London, with at least one change of train. It said customers should defer travel where possible.

'Chaotic scenes'

Network Rail said Finsbury Park station had been temporarily closed at about 11:00 GMT due to overcrowding.

BBC journalist Vicky Riddell said there had been "chaotic scenes" at the station.

"People were unable to leave the station via one of the exits due to overcrowding in the underground passageways which led to the overground platforms," she said.

"Outside, the entrance to the mainline station was blocked due to the volume of people trying to get in and out, leading to people missing their trains due to being simply unable to get into the station."

Transport for London tweeted that travellers should "avoid the station if possible".

Meanwhile, First Great Western has said there will be no services between London Paddington and Reading due to overrunning engineering works.

The company is advising passengers to use alternative routes with South West Trains and Chiltern Trains.

David Sidebottom, passenger director at Passenger Focus, said: "Investment in maintenance and improvement is necessary, and we passengers understand that.

"We will be looking to see that operators and Network Rail are doing all in their power to alert passengers, to help them make alternative arrangements and to make it easy for them to claim refunds or compensation."

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "It is extremely disappointing that Network Rail's engineering works have overrun and will affect travellers during this festive season. Passengers will be rightly annoyed.

"This was essential work but passengers need to be able to plan and rely on Network Rail meeting its deadlines for having the network back in service.

"The department is in contact with Network Rail to understand what went wrong and if lessons can be learned for the future."

Sunday delays

A Network Rail spokesman said the work was "a small part of a massive amount of engineering investment taking place over Christmas".

He said 4.5 million passengers use the railways on average every day, compared with two million a day over the Christmas and New Year holiday.

Najib Mohamed, 18, from north London, had to make other arrangements after arriving at King's Cross station expecting a train to take him to work.

"It is usually very, very busy here, but not today," the 18-year-old said.

"I am supposed to be working as a fundraiser today - and getting told where to go once I get here - but there are no trains so I think I might just go back to bed."

About 300 projects are being undertaken over the holidays across 2,000 sites up and down the country.

National Rail said a reduced service to and from London King's Cross was expected to operate on Sunday, but journeys could be retimed and take longer than expected.

Trains will leave King's Cross up to 20 minutes earlier than normal, resuming their usual stopping times from Peterborough. Services to King's Cross will arrive up to 40 minutes later than normal.

Other services will start or end at Doncaster, Newark North Gate, Peterborough or Stevenage.

Contact us

Were you planning to travel from King's Cross today? How has the disruption affected your plans? You can share your experiences by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

If you are willing to be contacted by a BBC journalist, please leave a contact number.

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