Network Rail's apology for two days of chaos on trains to London Euston

Network Rail issued a grovelling apology after a nightmare two days for commuters on trains into and out of London Euston.

Services were finally getting back to normal this morning (Wednesday March 11) after repairs to damaged overhead power cables dragged on over FOUR DAYS causing delays, cancellations and overcrowding on services to and from Northampton, Milton Keynes, Tring, Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead..

Those who did struggle into work on Tuesday morning then struggled even more to get home as a points failure blocked the line between Northampton and Milton Keynes for FIVE HOURS.

Train operators London Northwestern Railway and Avanti West Coast were forced to tear up amended timetables and get frustrated passengers home by bus while Euston station became gridlocked with passengers waiting for trains home.

It led James Dean, Network Rail’s route managing director to say: “I’m truly sorry to Euston passengers who have been impacted by delays and cancellations over the past few days. I’m gutted to have let you down."

Passengers tweeted pictures of Euston station jammed with people trying to get home during the evening rush-hour after the points failure at Hanslope Junction added to the disruption.

Stranded passengers trying to reach Northampton had to be ferried home by bus from Wellingborough.

Engineers worked overnight on Sunday and Monday to replace the overhead power cables which were damaged in North London on Saturday but were stymied by the discovery that the damage was more severe than initially thought.

In an open letter to customers, Mr Dean admitted: “What’s really frustrating about this is the surprise nature of Tuesday’s problems. They took us by surprise. They took you, our passengers, by surprise.

“If we’d known the full extent of the overhead wire damage, I would have told passengers and train companies that this was going to take longer to fix.

“But we didn’t know what we didn’t know until we knew – and by then it was too late to avoid impacting you further."