Dealing with stranded passengers after a major incident.

[fandroid]

I know that discussion re the Huntingdon incident has ended. Without getting stuck into any details about that and the related police operation, it did occur to me that there were a huge number of passengers on the train itself, and on all the trains either side that were turned back or halted. It would good to hear from anyone involved in the passenger handling operation, or anyone who witnessed it in order to understand how such things are dealt with. If the moderators think it's inappropriate to discuss this now, that's fine.

 

[gobbybobby]

Not this incident but been on several swr trains that have become stranded in the new forest when there's been a major incident such as a fatality, the gaurd announces that taxis are authorised, book your own and claim back through delay repay. They do stress you must book the taxi it to the train station and keep receipt

Ive always offered taxi space to other passengers as well

 

[Bletchleyite]

Not this incident but been on several swr trains that have become stranded in the new forest when there's been a major incident such as a fatality, the gaurd announces that taxis are authorised, book your own and claim back through delay repay. They do stress you must book the taxi it to the train station and keep receipt

I did notice LNER authorised that on Saturday for both taxis and hotels. Obviously not everyone can afford to do that but most adults can and it is easier than queueing for the railway to do it - so I'd see it as a very good thing.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 3 Nov 2025 ==

They do stress you must book the taxi it to the train station and keep receipt

Though that's quite petty. It might as well go to your house and won't generally add significantly to the cost.

 

[Belperpete]

Though that's quite petty. It might as well go to your house and won't generally add significantly to the cost.

In some cases it might cost less. However, not everyone lives within walking distance of their local station. Where I live, bus journeys of an hour or so to the railway station are not uncommon. I can see why they might jibe at an extra hour or so added onto a taxi journey.

 

[Bletchleyite]

In some cases it might cost less. However, not everyone lives within walking distance of their local station. Where I live, bus journeys of an hour or so to the railway station are not uncommon. I can see why they might jibe at an extra hour or so added onto a taxi journey.

Certainly there will be edge cases, but most people who live miles from stations drive to them (and so will want to go to the station anyway to retrieve their car), while those who normally access it by bus might have missed their last bus as a result of the disruption. Passengers aren't entitled to that extension, but not allowing it comes across as rather petty, particularly where the journey to home is shorter than to the station. Of course if it's a Hackney carriage or traditional minicab you usually just get given a blank receipt and can write what you like anyway, but if you used Uber/Bolt etc that would be an unnecessary inconvenience to save the railway not very much in most cases.

 

[norbitonflyer]

Nothing to stop you and the cabbie agreeing to make the receipt to the station but charge for to the house, which may be closer or furrther than the station

 

[Bletchleyite]

Nothing to stop you and the cabbie agreeing to make the receipt to the station but charge for to the house, which may be closer or furrther than the station

Certainly possible in a traditional cab (most of the time, as mentioned above, when using these for work I just get given a blank receipt to fill in what I want, on which I've always been honest but many wouldn't) but not if it's an Uber where you get a GPS tracked map on the receipt.

 

[RUK]

Certainly there will be edge cases, but most people who live miles from stations drive to them (and so will want to go to the station anyway to retrieve their car), while those who normally access it by bus might have missed their last bus as a result of the disruption. Passengers aren't entitled to that extension, but not allowing it comes across as rather petty, particularly where the journey to home is shorter than to the station. Of course if it's a Hackney carriage or traditional minicab you usually just get given a blank receipt and can write what you like anyway, but if you used Uber/Bolt etc that would be an unnecessary inconvenience to save the railway not very much in most cases.

Some taxi drivers try to game the system a little bit, though - I was on one from Ely to Norwich where, upon us telling him where Norwich station was and how to get into the forecourt, and him seeing it, instead of driving into the forecourt, he purposely drove round past the side of the station and further up Koblenz Avenue a bit to add a bit to the fare, before taking a photo of it, for him to claim a bit more money back. He said taxi drivers don’t necessarily like those jobs, because they only get paid one way for the long distance.

 

[ollyrogers]

It wasn’t this incident but I was on the first train stuck behind the signalling fire just south of Stevenage back in April. We were very quickly informed what was happening and our options (taxi and claim, await replacement buses etc) - I and three other passengers took an Uber into London, paid for it on my card and was promptly refunded the Delay Repay and Taxi fare within 48 hours.

LNER are very good at this side of the equation.

 

[Bletchleyite]

LNER are very good at this side of the equation.

LNER are of course known for being expensive - but if they provide a premium service in return for the premium money, as it seems they do in this regard, that does at least soften the blow of the fares a bit!

 

[sheff1]

I did notice LNER authorised that on Saturday for both taxis and hotels. Obviously not everyone can afford to do that but most adults can and it is easier than queueing for the railway to do it - so I'd see it as a very good thing.

Agreed and it should be standard in my view. Then only people who cannot arrange their own taxi/hotel need to contact the railway.

 

[Horizon22]

Coaches were arranged from Huntingdon, and there were pictures on the BBC of this being organised.

The availability of alternative transport is heavily dependent on day of the week, time of the day and location as well as demand from any other operators. It also takes a bit of time to get things in motion and for the coach / bus company to mobilise their staff - if indeed it is possible at all.

 

[saismee]

Some taxi drivers try to game the system a little bit, though

I have heard that a certain taxi company was having its drivers load up 4-5 people into one taxi, then charging 90 pounds split between them, but giving them all a 90 pound receipt each to claim back from the TOC!

 

[800Travel]

I have heard that a certain taxi company was having its drivers load up 4-5 people into one taxi, then charging 90 pounds split between them, but giving them all a 90 pound receipt each to claim back from the TOC!

That's bizarre given there is no benefit to the taxi company in this instance!

 

[saismee]

That's bizarre given there is no benefit to the taxi company in this instance!

I think they may have charged slightly more for the group on the basis that the passengers also take a bonus, it's a story from a few years ago and my memory is less than great.

 

[AdamWW]

I have heard that a certain taxi company was having its drivers load up 4-5 people into one taxi, then charging 90 pounds split between them, but giving them all a 90 pound receipt each to claim back from the TOC!

This is some years ago now, but I ended up on a Cardiff-bound train that was turned back before the Severn Tunnel and chucked everyone out at Bristol Temple Meads.

The staff there were getting people into groups of four and giving each group some kind of taxi authorisation and sending them off the the taxi rank.

All very efficient though it did mean 5 person taxis going off with 4 people in.

(And they were letting people get the taxis all the way to Cardiff Central rather than just to Newport to get a train the rest of the way).

 

[Dougal2345]

Of course offering taxis is all very well if (i) passengers at stations are notified and (ii) there are plenty available.

Stuck at Christchurch station (unstaffed) on Saturday after a burning car on the tracks at Brockenhurst blocked everything from Southampton to Bournemouth, there was no announcement about taxis at the station - one either had to find the relevant page on the national rail site, or I believe the help point might have mentioned it if you used it - but this doesn't exactly broadcast it to everyone on the platform. As I understand it there was none to be had anyway.

In such situations I wonder whether control should make actual, human, announcements to each affected station, regularly... is that technically possible?

 

[Surreytraveller]

In such situations I wonder whether control should make actual, human, announcements to each affected station, regularly... is that technically possible?

It's technically possible. Whether there are the resources (staff) to do it is another matter

 

[Dougal2345]

It's technically possible. Whether there are the resources (staff) to do it is another matter

Even if it were blanket announcements to every station between Pokesdown and Millbrook, it would have been a help. There's nothing worse in times of disruption than hearing endless automated announcements about trains "being delayed" and "cancelled" but no actual useful information.

The website also mentioned that rail replacement buses were being organised - although I'm pretty sure that they didn't manage to run any in the three or four hours before the line reopened. I wonder if these would have been announced on the platforms of the unstaffed stations or if they would have zoomed past the stations without anyone waiting being aware...

Incidentally Google "Brockenhurst car fire" for some pictures - driven onto the tracks by a confused old chap, and apparently ignited when it touched the third rail (old chap unhurt).

 

[Taunton]

There's nothing worse in times of disruption than hearing endless automated announcements about trains "being delayed" and "cancelled" but no actual useful information.

Actually there is - in times of disruption hearing endless automated announcements of "See It Say It ...", or, even worse (Woking, looking at you during a disruption) hearing in gravitas tones "May I have your attention please ..." (platform all go quiet to listen) "Please keep your belongings with you at all times".

 

[fandroid]

As usual I think the key is communication, and communication from a realtime human being.

I was on an SWT train in the evening out of Waterloo towards Basingstoke and somewhere south of Clapham we stopped. It was due to cable theft at Farnborough.

The memorable thing was how well the guard kept us informed, even when he had no actual update. We knew he was there looking after us, and the train remained completely calm for the several hours it took to get past the problem.

Someone in a control room regularly broadcasting to stations affected is what is needed. Plus some way of feeding info back to control. X/Twitter is a useful channel for that.

 

[Sakuradori]

At King's Cross on Saturday, quite a few trains came back 2+hrs after departing, between 11pm and midnight.

Taxis were organised by the railway from the station and private bookings were reimbursed, hotels were reimbursed, and I recall a few hotels were organised on behalf of some more vulnerable passengers.

There was also ticket acceptance and coaches to Peterborough.

 

[Dougal2345]

Out of interest, is there any particular reason why, at times of disruption, staff often seem reluctant to use the station PA system for announcements?

I recall in the past at Bournemouth, even when there were plenty of staff around, whom people can approach directly to question, the PA system just ran the auto-announcements and no-one used it to give situation updates to the station as a whole.

The Saturday before last, at Weymouth, there were helpful staff in the little office, but at no time was the PA used to update the people loitering inside the building or out on the platforms.

This leads to the situation of news leaking out slowly, as staff answer questions to a single passenger, whilst a few others nearby listen in, in the hope of hearing some information. And it must waste a lot of staff time repeating the same information over and over.

I wondered if there were some strict rules about who can use the PA, or what can be said on it?

 

[mm333]

Last time I had to get a taxi back from Leeds to home, LNER were handing out bits of paper with their customer service email address on for us to make a reimbursement claim.

Given there were hundreds of people wanting to go home, Uber had a massive pricing surge - not surprising given the number of customers.

I was charged double what I was normally charged. But I had overheard someone asking the station staff how to get to my station too so we shared an Uber so the cost per passenger was down at the normal amount.

 

[D1537]

At King's Cross on Saturday, quite a few trains came back 2+hrs after departing, between 11pm and midnight. Taxis were organised by the railway from the station and private bookings were reimbursed, hotels were reimbursed, and I recall a few hotels were organised on behalf of some more vulnerable passengers. As well as ticket acceptance and coaches put on to Peterborough.

Not just the vulnerable passengers.

We were chatting to others in the queue for the 09.03 Harrogate on Sunday morning and they included a number of people who had been to the rugby match at Twickenham and a group of Leeds football fans who had been on the way back from their away game at Brighton. All had hotels arranged for them by LNER.

 

[TrainzBK]

Out of interest, is there any particular reason why, at times of disruption, staff often seem reluctant to use the station PA system for announcements?

I recall in the past at Bournemouth, even when there were plenty of staff around, whom people can approach directly to question, the PA system just ran the auto-announcements and no-one used it to give situation updates to the station as a whole.

The Saturday before last, at Weymouth, there were helpful staff in the little office, but at no time was the PA used to update the people loitering inside the building or out on the platforms.

This leads to the situation of news leaking out slowly, as staff answer questions to a single passenger, whilst a few others nearby listen in, in the hope of hearing some information. And it must waste a lot of staff time repeating the same information over and over.

I wondered if there were some strict rules about who can use the PA, or what can be said on it?

This is most definitely a station by station case, some stations have announcers who are employed to do announcements and deal with control and signallers and use of roving mics may not be permitted or even possible, announcers may be busy during disruption on phone to signallers and control hence the silence.

 

[Roast Veg]

I was on 1D31, which was dropped into the slow line platform at Biggleswade during the disruption. We were ultimately turned back to King's Cross where taxis and hotels were put on. My taxi all the way up the M1 ran the meter up to more than £900, and arrived at about 04:30.

 

[fandroid]

This is most definitely a station by station case, some stations have announcers who are employed to do announcements and deal with control and signallers and use of roving mics may not be permitted or even possible, announcers may be busy during disruption on phone to signallers and control hence the silence.

Even if they are busy, informing the public is an essential part of any work to deal with disruption. It should never be seen as just an "operations" issue. Many guards are very good at it. If they are also stranded then perhaps rope them in to be the human voice of the railway.

 

[The exile]

Even if they are busy, informing the public is an essential part of any work to deal with disruption. It should never be seen as just an "operations" issue. Many guards are very good at it. If they are also stranded then perhaps rope them in to be the human voice of the railway.

Indeed - an uninformed public is potentially a safety issue so should be prioritised as such.

 

[TrainzBK]

Even if they are busy, informing the public is an essential part of any work to deal with disruption. It should never be seen as just an "operations" issue. Many guards are very good at it. If they are also stranded then perhaps rope them in to be the human voice of the railway.

While I do agree with you, when I tell you that during disruption the phone never stops in a station control room.

However I think for your case it may just be that the staff at the station were either not given the resources to utilise the PA system or did not not feel confident enough to use it.