Commuters stranded after guard decides to leave train

HUNDREDS of homebound rail commuters were left stranded and seething with anger after the train's guard decided he had had enough and wasn't going to continue with the journey any more. Adding insult to injury, it also came on the same day that fares went up.

Passengers were ordered out into the cold and dark at Kelvedon station in Essex when the embarrassed driver had to explain that under safety regulations he could not carry on without the guard.

Commuter David Cook said: "I thought the driver was joking at first - but he wasn't. We have all suffered with the delays and appalling service and now this.

"How anyone could leave the train like this begs belief.

"There must be a full inquiry into what happened. The train companies make enough fuss about encouraging passengers back onto the railways but this is certainly not the way to do it."

The 6.20pm First Great Eastern service from Liverpool Street station had already suffered delays due to an unexplained problem at Chelmsford.

The situation worsened, however, when the train had travelled just three more stops to Kelvedon - and the driver refused to take it any further following the disappearance of the guard.

He told the 350 passengers that the guard had left the train at Witham, the stop before.

Astonished commuters were then forced to wait for the following train with many of them arriving at their final destinations up to an hour and a half late.

Rail chiefs today offered their apologies and promised an inquiry to find out exactly what happened.

Meanwhile, there was more trouble for thousands of Tube commuters on the Metropolitan line.

Homebound services came to a stop at Neasden last night - with passengers left uncertain as to what was going on because the driver told them his radio had failed and he could not contact his base to discover the problem.

Eventually commuters were told that a fault in the track was responsible for holding-up the packed 6.50pm "fast" train - and others behind it - from Aldgate to Amersham for more than an hour.

A London Underground spokeswoman blamed defective track which had resulted in a 10mph speed limit in the area.

Commuter Alan Moss from North-wood said: "At first we weren't told anything.

"Then the driver announced three times that he had lost radio contact. It took us half-an-hour to go from Great Portland Street station to Finchley Road which is only two stops."

Brian Ladd, 40, a bank manager also travelling home to Northwood, said the usual four-minute journey between Finchley Road and Neasden took nearly an hour.

He said: "There was a complete breakdown in communication. Here were we poor souls sitting on the train in great discomfort with no idea what the hold-up was.

"It's pretty well inexcusable when fares have just gone up and many people have just paid hundreds of pounds to renew their season tickets."

Mr Ladd said in the last year alone he had made 72 compensation claims as a result of late services, "winning most of them".

The LU spokeswoman added: "The radio was not broken but it seems likely that, as with any radio, some signals just did not get through.

"Our main concern was getting everybody home safely which is what we did."

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