Passenger Lucy Bannister said the platform at St Pancras was “chaos” Thousands of rail passengers on the East Coast Main Line are facing major delays due to overhead wire problems.
Operator East Coast said no trains were running between Grantham, Lincolnshire, and Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, because four power lines were down.
The company said delays were estimated at two hours and advised against travel that was not “absolutely necessary”.
It is affecting train services in both directions on the main line, between London Kings Cross and Aberdeen.
“You couldn’t get on the platform – you could hardly get off the escalator”
Lucy Bannister Passenger
There are currently no replacement road services and there is no estimate about when a normal timetable will resume.
London Kings Cross customers travelling beyond Peterborough can use alternative services from St Pancras or Euston.
Other train operators will accept tickets from passengers affected, said government-run East Coast.
Passenger Lucy Bannister – travelling from Brighton to Bradford – had been due to catch a service from Kings Cross.
She was directed to St Pancras, but said the platform was “chaos”. She later managed to get on a Virgin train at Euston.
“I had to pay for an upgrade to first class because there were no seats or anywhere to stand in standard class,” she said.
“People are standing in the aisles or sitting on suitcases – there are elderly people and children with nowhere to sit.
“There were so many people at Kings Cross and there was no information coming back to people, and the staff were really overwhelmed.
“St Pancras was chaos with hundreds of people trying to get up to Sheffield on the East Midlands line. You couldn’t get on the platform – you could hardly get off the escalator.”
A spokeswoman for East Coast said: “There has been an overhead line failure around the Grantham area. Four lines are down, which means no trains are running between Grantham and Peterborough.
“Southbound services from Peterborough are fine.
“There is no current estimate for when a normal service will resume. We are advising customers not to travel unless absolutely necessary.
“Network Rail are on site dealing with the problem now.”
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