Train cancellations today between Manchester Piccadilly and London Euston have created havoc for travellers.
From Manchester Piccadilly, services were cancelled due to signal fault between Milton Keynes Central and Watford Junction at around 6am.
In the station, anxious passengers stood by suitcases and queued at the help desk – trying to work out their route following the disruption.
“They can’t keep it [like this] for hours and hours and hours because it’s a major city line isn’t it really,” Eva, 63, pointed out to me after a frustrated phone call with her daughter.
“I’ve not seen them since September, it’s so disappointing.”
Over the tannoy, passengers are told that to get to London, they will need to travel on to Doncaster, where they can change for services down to King’s Cross.
Tickets are rapidly selling out for this route, and delays and cancellations look likely as passengers rush to get on any southbound train.
Some passengers are concerned that their seat reservation will be made void due to the busyness of these contingency trains: “Nothing’s easy, absolutely awful, so it’s been an experience hasn’t it.”
A brief check of the ticket machines suggested that Avanti West Coast, the company that operates trains between Piccadilly and Euston, is continuing to offer tickets for the day’s travel.
It will cost ticketless passengers at least £76 to buy an off-peak train journey to London – that may not even leave Manchester today.
Northbound trains from Euston have also seen a wave of cancellations.
To add to passenger’s woes, on Friday 5 April, train drivers will strike for 24 hours – including drivers of Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, CrossCountry and West Midlands Trains.
Additionally, Manchester City are hosting Aston Villa tonight so fans travelling up from the South may experience similar disruption.
One couple, May and Dennis, told me they were reconsidering travelling down to see their family due to today and Friday’s cancellations: “It’s an absolute pain isn’t it, and normally we were coming back on Friday, but now we’ve got to come back tomorrow.
“We won’t get there until about 4 o’clock today,” they continued with their fingers crossed, “Our grandchildren are in a show tonight, that’s why we’re going.
“If we can’t get down to that – we’re going to the pub! Or to a Thai restaurant!”
Featured image credit: Charlie Valentine
