Thameslink delays: Commuters left to 'cook' on hot train... after driver pulls into wrong platform at Blackfriars

Travel misery: Passenger crammed onto delayed services amid the sweltering heat
@bornatotter/Twitter
Sebastian Mann20 July 2016

Thousands of commuters suffered rush hour misery this morning after a train pulled into the wrong platform at Blackfriars station.

Passengers reported being stranded on motionless trains on one of the hottest days of the year - while Thameslink engineers dealt with a backlog caused by what they termed an “operating incident”.

The operator blamed a "signaller error" for the hold-ups while the train was reversed back out the station to correct the mistake.

On Twitter, delayed commuters joked they were “cooking” on trains travelling slower than a snail’s pace into London.

Another user wrote: "Sat baking outside Blackfriars for 35 minutes on the hottest morning of the year. New levels of absolute s****."

Commuter Paul Crayston, 31, travels to work daily from Peckham Rye. He said he was on the train which caused the delays afer it pulled into the wrong platform.

"The guys on the platform in the high viz looked like they knew something was badly off," he said.

"There was lots of waiting around.

"I spoke to one of the guys and he said 'he's come into the wrong platform'.

"Those were the exact words he used."

Mr Crayston, who works in PR in Liverpool Street, added he knew immediately something was wrong because he catches the same 8.10am train from Peckham Rye every day - and normally gets off at Blackfriars when his service terminates there.

Instead, this morning the train pulled into one of the platforms for services passing through the station.

"I'm so used to it, I almost tried to get off the train on the wrong side," he said.

A Thameslink spokeswoman said: "I can confirm that the issue at Blackfriars was caused by a Network Rail signaller error.

"This resulted in reactionary delays to the services through Blackfriars however we anticipate normal service to resume by approximately 11am.

"We are sorry for the inconvenience this has caused to our customers’ journey."

She added: "A Southeastern train meant for a bay platform was directed to platform two in error.

"This meant the train had to be reversed out from the platform to allow north bound trains to continue into the station."

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