Rail passengers faced chaos yesterday (September 29), with reports of 100 people stranded due to the cancellation of services between Exeter and Penzance. The severe weather conditions resulted in all lines being blocked between Exeter St David’s and Penzance, causing a halt to all services.
A woman took to social media to share that her mother and 14-month-old granddaughter were left stranded at Exeter St David’s station with no means of getting home. A later update revealed they had managed to share a taxi to Plymouth, but it was uncertain if they would need to find overnight accommodation.
Another concerned mother shared that she was travelling from Redruth to pick up her son and his girlfriend in Exeter. She explained: “My partner and I are currently driving from Redruth to Exeter to pick my son and his girlfriend up. The train stopped in Exeter. Initially, they were told there was a delay, due to the weather, then they were asked to leave the train.”
She added: “They’ve been advised to claim a refund on their ticket, but that won’t cover our fuel costs and there may well be passengers who don’t have a loving Mum who can collect them.
“My son said there were probably over 100 people who got off the train, initially. And they were asked to go out of the station to wait for a bus, then told there would be no bus. By this point, they were all soaked and cold from being out in the storm”, she told Cornwall Live.
Travellers were left stranded and angry due to train cancellations, leading one passenger to voice their frustrations. The annoyed commuter said: “It’s really not good enough that they’ve been treated like this. I was under the impression onward travel had to be arranged if your train is cancelled but apparently not. It’s not OK that people have been abandoned, on a Sunday when transport is limited, in a storm, miles away from home.”
Another shared their experience of the journey gone awry after departing from Paddington: “On boarding, the train manager told us to expect such delays and later updated us with the info that the train would terminate at Exeter St Davids. Before leaving the train we were also advised that a rail replacement bus would be available but platform/ticket office staff said there wasn’t (all as helpful as they could be but clearly struggling to get concise information).”
The passenger added: “Eventually they got the info that the buses outside the station were indeed replacement transport to Plymouth. I’m now on the bus to Plymouth but unsure as to what the situation will be when we get there.”