Passenger describes scenes in London station amid Storm Babet
- John Hinson, 61, was met with travel chaos in the station in central London
A man with Parkinson’s disease has said he felt safer while holidaying in Jordan than dealing with the ‘dangerous’ situation as he caught a train home from King’s Cross Station amid the cancellation chaos caused by Storm Babet.
John Hinson, who lives in North Ferriby, East Yorkshire, arrived in London[2] on Friday on Friday after a two-week holiday in Jordan where he was met with travel chaos caused by the extreme weather.
The 61-year-old said commuters were ‘crashing against the barrier’ as they ran to catch trains at King’s Cross in central London, before the station was closed.
Station bosses, after discussions with railway operators, made the decision to begin opening a limited number of platforms later on Saturday afternoon.
It comes after stranded passengers shared videos on X, formerly known as Twitter[3], of gargantuan crowds forming inside the station[4], amidst claims that people were being ‘crushed’ on the concourse of the huge terminal.
Images earlier today on social media showed crowds amassing outside the main entrance to the station on Euston Road in central London.
John Hinson, who lives in North Ferriby, East Yorkshire, arrived in London on Friday on Friday after a two-week holiday in Jordan where he was met with travel chaos caused by the extreme weather
Stranded passengers have shared videos on X, formerly known as Twitter , of gargantuan crowds forming inside the station
Retired Mr Hinson was left without the assistance he needed before he boarded a Hull Trains service to Brough this morning.
‘It was just so dangerous,’ he said. ‘I have Parkinson’s and I have difficulty walking, so my wife (Joanna) went to ask for assistance and all assistance was cancelled.
‘We were basically told that if we cannot get the train, we need to cancel and come back again.’
He added that he ‘just made’ the train having to ‘shuffle’ behind his wife who was forced to drag two large suitcases as the assistance was not provided.
‘There did not seem to be any police about or any management,’ he said. ‘When I got to the station, one noticeboard said the train was delayed and another said it was cancelled, so it was hard to know exactly what was happening with the train.
‘The platform number was eventually announced and there was a mad rush to get to it – people were jumping over and pushing through the gaps in the barrier, so there was a lot of chaos trying to get on a train.
‘When we were on holiday in Jordan, there was a lot of police activity, but never one time where I felt threatened, it was quite safe. That was not the case at King’s Cross this morning as there was a high chance of a crush’.
Another frustrated commuter, Luce Armstrong, said she had experienced ‘absolute chaos’ at the station.
Crowds were seen queuing at the station amid the extreme weather and flooding
‘I’m surprised nobody was hurt, there were children and older people with no assistance getting through the very frustrated crowds that were getting more and more crushed,’ the 24-year-old said.
‘There were no clear instructions for the crowd at all, nobody had any idea what was going on.
‘The lack of communication was frustrating for everyone. They eventually came and put some barriers up to try to create some space.’
Major train operators had warned passengers not to travel before checking if their services were running – as transport services were thrown into chaos by Storm Babet, with crews in the wrong places for services and rainlines flooded by torrential downpours.
London North Eastern Railway (LNER), Avanti West Coast and Northern Rail all warned against travelling as lines are widely flooded.
LNER said there is ‘an extremely limited service’ in place due to flooding between Doncaster and Wakefield.
The service has also been impacted by speed restrictions in Scotland and trains and crews being out of position after extensive disruption on Friday.
There are no LNER services north of Edinburgh on Saturday and rail replacement services are not available because of road closures.
The train operator said remaining services may be subject to short-notice cancellations.
Northern Rail said all lines between Cheadle Hulme and Wilmslow are blocked due to damage to the overhead electric wires.
Services are also not able to run from Sheffield to Nottingham or Lincoln due to flooding, while trains are also unable to travel between Leeds and Doncaster, Harrogate and Bradford.
Major train operators had warned passengers not to travel before checking if their services were running
The crowds spilled out onto the square outside King’s Cross on London’s Euston Road
The line between Newcastle and Morpeth is also closed due to viaduct damage, Northern Rail added.
Avanti West Coast has said its services are also severely disrupted and it has asked customers to not travel between Crewe and North Wales and that people should only travel between Preston and Glasgow or Edinburgh if absolutely necessary.
A spokesperson from Network Rail said: ‘While many of the country’s rail services are running well today, we’re sorry to say that there is still severe disruption in areas worst-hit by Storm Babet, including Scotland, the North East and East Midlands.
‘In particular, King’s Cross station has crowd-control measures in place this afternoon while LNER services to the North East are severely disrupted.
‘We are asking people to check before they travel today, to avoid wasted journeys.’