- Trains between the Midlands and Manchester were affected by the signal fault
- Stuck in Euston? Email fran.wolfisz@dailymail.co.uk
Commuters have warned of “absolute chaos” and “dangerous overcrowding” at Euston station as passengers are trapped on trains with “broken air conditioning” during rush hour after a signal failure.
The situation was compounded by a flawed reporting system, meaning rail bosses were unable to fully communicate with commuters what had happened.
London Euston posted on X that “Trains to/from Euston are disrupted this evening due to a fault with our signaling system at Watford” and advised passengers to check online before travelling.
The post added: “We truly apologize to the affected passengers.”
A signal outage at Watford Junction is affecting trains using the line between the Midlands and Manchester.
Avanti West Coast is disrupted between London Euston and Wolverhampton, Crewe, Manchester Piccadilly and Edinburgh.
The London Northwestern Railway is disrupted between London Euston and Tring, Milton Keynes Central, Birmingham New Street and Crewe.
Lines have now reopened after points failed at Watford Junction.
National Rail has warned that trains through Euston may be cancelled, delayed by up to 40 minutes or revised.
The company said on its website that the outage will last until the end of the day.
Footage taken from inside the station shows hundreds of people standing and looking up at notice boards.
One unhappy passenger described the station as an “oven” and asked station bosses at X: “Can you turn on the air conditioning? Or turn it on.”
One commuter, called Josh, asked Euston Station at X to explain what had happened to the announcements.
The reply said: ‘Hi Josh, we are currently having problems with the PA system, the volume is lower than normal. Meanwhile, the station team supports with hand-held speakers.
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“Sorry about that, we are working hard on announcements and getting trains moving as quickly as possible.”
Another commuter posted on X that Euston station is “ridiculously hot and overcrowded now and still hardly any trains.”
The third described ‘aabsolute chaos in Euston with no idea what trains are running, delayed or cancelled. No information and no guarantee they’ll get me home tonight.’
One social media user decided to diffuse the situation with a bit of humour, writing: ‘Euston we have a problem.’
Meanwhile, passengers already traveling endured rising temperatures on stationary trains.
One concerned commuter told Avanti West Coast they had been on the train for an hour and were stuck in Coventry.
They tweeted: “May I suggest people know they can get off the train onto the platform to cool off? Just standing will not help.’
Speaking to MailOnline, affected passenger Theo, 25, from south-west London, said he was “trapped” for more than two hours on a train traveling between Crewe and Euston Station at Watford Junction, between 4pm and after 6pm.
He said: “There was a train failure at Watford Junction which blocked the track and then on top of that the switches failed so everything was very slow going.
“There were a lot of high-hanging railroad guys. I think they sorted it all out, but there was obviously a long queue [of trains] behind us.’
He added that the guard, who was on the last day of his 20-year service with London North Western Railway, had been “stellar in keeping us informed and in the loop on all the issues”.
When the train finally moved, he described Euston Station as “very hot, no breeze and about as busy as I’ve ever seen it”.