More than 900 people rescued from train after Clapham Junction power cut

More than 900 people have been evacuated from a train after a major power supply problem caused chaos for thousands of commuters at Clapham Junction, the UK’s busiest rail station.

The problem, which started at 9am on Thursday morning between Clapham Junction and Wandsworth Common, is expected to cause disruptions for the rest of the day.

Some passengers who began their commute to London from Brighton and other south-coast cities in the early morning were stranded for up to five hours. British transport police (BTP) had to evacuate stranded passengers outside the south London station, with conditions on board described as a “nightmare” by one commuter. The Press Association reported that 904 passengers were taken off one train stuck between stations.

Water was handed out to travellers stuck on board for hours in sweltering temperatures. One had to be treated by ambulance staff on a stationary train, while firefighters used a short-extension ladder to evacuate travellers from another held-up service.

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No Southern train company trains were able to get in or out of Victoria station and services were suspended on the Gatwick Express. Passengers heading for London from southern England were forced to disembark well ahead of their destinations and seek alternative routes.

One commuter, Anna Roberts, who works in Victoria, south-west London, was stuck on a Brighton-to-London train well after 11am. She said: “It’s been nearly four hours now. Police and paramedics boarded our train because there is no air conditioning. They said they were bringing water but not enough for everyone to have one bottle each.

“Eventually we got water in plastic containers, which we are passing around the carriage. We were told that was all that was available. With the power off, it’s like an oven in here. Police have said it’s too dangerous to walk down the track.”

Another commuter, Jonjo Buster Lowe, said it took him two-and-a-half hours to get from East Croydon to Clapham Junction. “People were fighting each other to get on to the train. But within five minutes the train stopped between Streatham and Balham, and it was literally the most packed train I’ve ever been on.

“Everyone was squashed against the walls of the carriage, faces against the window. We were standing there for 45 minutes before the driver let us know what was happening. He was apologetic, I don’t think he really knew what was going on.”

Lowe’s train left East Croydon at 8.52am and eventually stopped at Balham at about 10.45am. “What was annoying was that there was clearly such a lack of communication between rail staff in Clapham and East Croydon, they shouldn’t have let us get on the train because they knew they weren’t letting any trains into the station. It was a waste of everyone’s time.”

He added that the mood among the passengers on his train was “pretty frantic”. “I felt like if we’d stayed there an hour longer, people would have started to argue, there were already disagreements building – a couple of people were complaining about the situation and others were chipping in saying: ‘It’s crap for everyone, you moaning isn’t going to make it any better.’”

Jamie Ivory boarded a 7.53am train at East Grinstead and did not arrive at Victoria until around midday. “We were going along and then the train powered down and the lights went out, and there was an announcement that the driver needed to check the tracks because he thought we’d hit something. The first update came quite quickly and after that there were three or four more updates,” he said.

“At first everyone was quite tired, they were huffing and puffing, but actually the longer it went on, the more everyone started chatting to each other and the mood seemed to get better.

“It was a strange environment. Normally those trains are silent, but people were befriending each other, sharing water, things like that. I made quite a few friends with people who were on the same train and messaged me on Twitter.”

Ivory said his train was evacuated by police and the fire service. “We got off and headed towards Clapham. We didn’t have too far to walk.”

Farid Rahman was on his way to university when his train from London Victoria to Clapham junction stopped for three hours. He said the mood among commuters started off as “fairly annoyed”, specially among those who had exams or meetings to get to but added: “No one panicked as the driver and conductor were keeping us informed every 20 minutes. The conductor was walking up and down the carriages to make sure everyone was all right or [to check] if anyone needed medical attention.”

Rahman said the fire brigade came and cleared a path on the tracks, after which commuters were evacuated one by one and walked out from a public footpath to the station. “People were generally remaining calm,” he said. “At first they were quiet, but near the end everyone was talking to each other and calming others.”

Other commuters told of their delays. Lara Tyler, an interior designer from East Grinstead, said: “I’ve been delayed an hour today, this morning it took 30 minutes more because I was diverted to London Bridge and I’ve been delayed 30 minutes here already. The police here are lovely, but they don’t know what’s going on at all. It’s fine if you aren’t in a hurry, but not when you have to collect children from school.”

Aidan Tyghe, a student from Lingfield, said he was initially told it was signal problems and said claiming refunds should be easier than at present: “All they tell you to do is send off for a partial refund, which is a lot of extra paperwork, when you should just be able to go to the cashier. Tickets are expensive and you should get money back easier.”

Eva Sliz, a hotel worker who was waiting at Norwood Junction, said: “I’ve been waiting half an hour. But this happens almost every day, and it’s annoying when you pay for a train ticket – I keep ending up getting the bus, which should be much slower but ended up being quicker a lot of the time because of delays. And then it’s a waste of money for the train ticket. It’s especially annoying to be delayed today when the sun is shining.”

Network Rail said on Thursday afternoon that three of the four tracks used by Southern trains through Clapham Junction were now open.

Engineers had been unable to start work to fix the supply outage on the electrified rail, which powers the trains, until passengers had been evacuated near Battersea Rise and the two trains stuck on the affected track removed.

A Network Rail spokesman said the evacuated passengers, some of whom had been aboard the 7.02am East Grinstead to Victoria service for more than four and a half hours, were incredibly patient, understanding and cooperative, adding: “Getting people off the train on to tracks is not something we do lightly.”

The second train was moved with passengers aboard back to Wandsworth Common station by a diesel engine. Four other trains were stuck elsewhere on the line, before passengers could be disembarked at other stations.

The cause of the power failure has yet to be identified by Network Rail, which said it expected to have all lines working before the evening rush hour but warned that the earlier disruption would have knock-on effects for the rest of the day.

Southern, which operates all the affected trains, advised people to still avoid using Victoria on Thursday afternoon if possible and to use alternative routes, with passengers’ tickets valid on other services. A spokesperson said: “We expect there to be some delays, cancellations and short notice alterations for this evening’s peak as there will be some trains and train crews out of place.”

Commuters on the service are used to delays: one of Southern’s daily Brighton-London services failed to run on time for an entire year.

London’s transport commissioner, Sir Peter Hendy, last week described the trains of Southern’s sister company, Southeastern – also run by Govia – as “shit” but on Wednesday retracted the comments as “unjustified”.

There had also been delays involving Clapham Junction on Thursday morning due to a lineside fire which caused holdups to services on the London Overground.