A WIRRAL MP has spoken about her "disastrous" train journey with Avanti after she and hundreds of others were forced to get taxis to reach their destinations.

Angela Eagle, MP for Wallasey, boarded a train to Glasgow on Monday evening (September 25) with Avanti West Coast.

The train stopped at Carlisle station and Avanti informed passengers that the train was cancelled mid-journey following a collision between a lorry and a bridge.

Ms Eagle and the hundreds of other passengers on board were taken off the trains and made to queue for hours for coaches which "never arrived".

Speaking to the Globe, Ms Eagle said: "After almost three hours of total standstill with no further train routes north, south, east or west, we were eventually put into taxis to ferry us to our destination.

"I arrived at 10pm, over four hours late, whilst many others waited even longer with no shelter and no access to food or rest."

Rail passengers were also forced off a train in Preston after a journey from London to Edinburgh came to a sudden halt.

Passengers received an email saying the service was cancelled when they were already on board.

The train stopped in Preston and all of the passengers were taken by taxi the remaining 185 miles, the journey took a total of 11 hours.

The passengers' suffering hit the headlines after stand-up comedian James Nokise described the delays in a series of posts viewed more than 2.6m times on social media platform X – formerly known as Twitter.

After catching a train to Edinburgh from London at 4.40pm, Nokise's journey culminated with him travelling to the Scottish capital with three other people in a black cab. His 11 hour trip ended when he arrived at 3.30am.

Staff from Greenfaulds High School, Glasgow, were forced to order their own coach to take 50 pupils home after a trip to London as they were too young to travel in taxis without an adult. 

'Our rail links are fundamentally broken'

Ms Eagle added: "This is the reality of 13 years of Tory neglect.

"Our rail links are fundamentally broken – we can’t trust trains to come on time or that they’ll take us where our ticket says when they do eventually turn up. 

"The Prime Minister seems to know this. His constant helicopter flights suggest he’s attempting to escape delays like mine, though it seems naïve to assume he ever uses public transport in the first place - except for a photo opp.

"Despite this, the Government seems set on rewarding failure with public money. Just a week ago, they awarded the operator of my disastrous journey (Avanti West Coast) a further nine-year contract.

"Just 46 per cent of Avanti’s trains arrive on time, making it the country’s second least reliable service.

"The Transport Secretary claimed this new contract follows ‘significant improvements for passengers’. For the hundreds of passengers I was stuck waiting with last night, these improvements were nowhere to be seen.

"We desperately need to stop renewing contracts for failing operators and bring them back into public ownership as contracts expire – finally putting passengers first."

What did Avanti West Coast say?

An Avanti West Coast spokesman said: "We apologise to our customers who were caught up in last night’s disruption.

"The closure of the West Coast Main Line for over three hours due to a track defect had a significant impact on our services, with trains and train crew unable to work our planned timetable resulting in cancellations of services north of Preston.

"Whilst alternative transport and overnight accommodation was sourced for most of those impacted, we fully understand the frustrations of those customers whose journeys were affected, and we are extremely sorry for this.

"Anyone who was affected by last night’s disruption will be entitled to compensation and are urged to get in contact through our normal channels to process their claim."