Over 1,800 passengers were evacuated after being stuck on sweltering trains with no air conditioning when a fault brought an entire rail line to a halt in 34C heat
Desperate passengers have been evacuated down railway tracks after being left stuck on trains in sweltering 34C heat.
Footage showed people fleeing multiple Thameslink services in the capital this afternoon after being trapped on hot and humid stationary trains with no air conditioning following an electrical fault. Some frustrated passengers claimed they felt as if they were being “slow cooked” as they waited to be rescued, before they were eventually led to safety by Thameslink and Network Rail staff. The scenes unfolded when a fault on train near Loughborough Junction cut off power to the line, and brought all services to a halt. With the heatwave resulting in conditions well above 30C across England, the sudden halt to services came at a particularly bad time, as pre-planned engineering works meant there was only one working Thameslink route out of London today.
Over 1,800 passengers were taken off three services, with the rail operator bringing in staff from Sussex and Kent to help the evacuations.
One frustrated passenger said they had seen people “passing out” on the train while stuck between Elephant & Castle and Loughborough Junction, while another directing a message at Thameslink’s official X account wrote: “Your service is a joke!”.
Someone else said: “You will have hell to pay. We’ve been stuck on this hot and humid train for over an hour.
“The doors were closed because we were told we may be moving. That was 15 minutes ago. It’s like an oven in here and we’re being slow cooked.”
Others reported seeing people prising open the doors to try and ventilate the trains, as a clip filmed by passenger Michael Elston showed the families walking down the tracks together in the baking heat.
One passenger told the MailOnline: “Some passengers took it upon themselves and started to actually open up the doors on the train, forcing them open.
“Eventually all the doors were open. The driver noticed that was happening and said ‘Ok, just open the doors but don’t get on the tracks'”.
A spokesperson for Govia Thameslink Railway and Network Rail said: “Earlier today, 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. With safety our top priority, the safest place was to remain on the trains while we worked our hardest to get help to those on board.
“There is engineering work taking place today, which means this is the only route Thameslink trains can take south out of London and disruption is expected into the evening.
A British Transport Police spokesperson said this afternoon: “Officers were called to Loughborough Junction Railway Station at just before 11am today (21 June) to reports of a train broken down nearby. Officers assisted Thameslink and Network Rail and all passengers have been evacuated safely.”
Hottest day of the year so far
It came as the UK recorded the hottest day of the year so far, as the Met Office said there was a provisional temperature of more than 33C measured in Surrey.
As well as the 33.2C high in Charlwood, temperatures of 26.9C were provisionally recorded in Bute Park in Cardiff and 27.2C in Aviemore in the Highlands, the weather service said on Saturday afternoon.