Govia Thameslink Railway and Network Rail have apologised to passengers for a weekend incident in which passengers were effectively trapped on a down train near Loughborough Junction for two hours on the hottest day of the year, when the temperature in south London reached more than 30 degrees.
Some people bound for Gatwick Airport missed their flights, when services in the area were halted by a fault on a train on Saturday.
It took two hours to evacuate one train, after which passengers walked along the track once the conductor rails had been isolated and staff were on hand to supervise.
One passenger was reported to have said that Thameslink would have ‘hell to pay’.
GTR said: ‘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.’
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