Man’s birthday ‘ruined’ minutes after boarding Merseyrail train

A woman has slammed an "appalling service" after her "traumatic" Merseyrail journey home.

Anita Fielding had been out celebrating her husband's birthday in Liverpool City Centre on Friday, June 16, when they were returning home to Ormskirk. However, she has slammed the "appalling service" which she said "ruined the night."

After stopping at Aintree, Anita said crowds were "piling on" the three-car train and were intoxicated. She told the ECHO: "It was virtually empty until we got to Aintree, the doors opened and people came piling in and 90% were drunk.

"My husband was sat opposite me and couldn't get to me, people were pushing against me. I felt totally traumatised, when we got off the train the staff asked if we were okay. You couldn't move, it was overwhelming.

"Crowds were pushing to get on the train, people were shoving, it was a horrendous experience. There was no organisation at all, I feel sorry for the staff.

"People were drinking, people were kicking off, it ruined the day. They need to look at what events are going on, I didn't know there had been a gig that day, but they must have known that so why only send a three-car train?"

Anita added there was "no air conditioning" as she added: "I'm not one to complain but what if you were in your 80s, you couldn't move. People were just piled on."

Greg Suligowski, Head of Customer Strategy, said: "I am sorry to hear that Anita had this experience whilst travelling on one of our trains. A major event taking place at Aintree racecourse on the evening of Friday 16 June meant services were busier than usual.

"Whilst we did put extra trains in place to cater for this event, we are limited in terms of the numbers available. This meant that some customers experienced very busy services.

"Our station and onboard teams are trained to deal with these situations, and I’m pleased to hear that our staff were able to reassure Anita during her journey. We do have a TravelSafe policy which seeks to prevent people who are intoxicated from travelling on the network.

"This is for their safety as well as the safety of other passengers. Merseyrail staff are trained to identify when it is appropriate to refuse travel."

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References

1. ^{^} Police storm TUI plane at Manchester Airport as mum 'refuses to put seatbelt on child' (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)
2. ^{^} here (www.liverpoolecho.co.uk)