Govia
Thameslink
Railway


and
Network
Rail
have
apologised
to
passengers
for
a
weekend
incident
in
which
passengers
were
effectively
trapped
on
a
down
train
near
Loughborough
Junction
for
two
hours
on
the
hottest
day
of
the
year,
when
the
temperature
in
south
London
reached
more
than
30
degrees.

Some
people
bound
for
Gatwick
Airport
missed
their
flights,
when
services
in
the
area
were
halted
by
a
fault
on
a
train
on
Saturday.

It
took
two
hours
to
evacuate
one
train,
after
which
passengers
walked
along
the
track
once
the
conductor
rails
had
been
isolated
and
staff
were
on
hand
to
supervise.

One
passenger
was
reported
to
have
said
that
Thameslink
would
have
‘hell
to
pay’.

GTR
said:
‘A
fault
on
a
train
near
Loughborough
Junction
brought
all
services
to
a
halt
in
the
area,
three
of
them
outside
station
platforms.

‘Without
power
and
air
conditioning
on
such
a
hot
day,
we
pulled
all
resources
from
across
Sussex
and
Kent
to
get
personnel
on
site
to
safely
evacuate
passengers
as
quickly
as
possible
along
the
track.

‘This
would
have
been
a
difficult
and
uncomfortable
experience
for
our
passengers
and
we
are
truly
sorry.’

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