1,500 stranded passengers evacuated from sweltering Thameslink trains near Loughborough after power failure

Confirming the incident to Mail Online, Thameslink said: “Earlier today, a fault on a train near Loughborough Junction brought all services to a halt in the area, three of them outside station platforms.

“Without power and air conditioning on such a hot day, we pulled all resources from across Sussex and Kent to get personnel on site to safely evacuate passengers as quickly as possible along the track."

They apologised for the "difficult and uncomfortable experience," noting that “with safety our top priority, the safest place was to remain on the trains while we worked our hardest to get help to those on board.” Engineers rerouted services and advised passengers travelling south of London to use Southern trains from Victoria. Thameslink also confirmed compensation is available for delays exceeding 15 minutes.

A London Fire Brigade spokesperson said their team was called at 11.46 am “to assist around 1,500 railway passengers who are on board two trains which are stranded near Loughborough Junction station. The power to the railway line has been isolated and crews are currently working alongside staff from Network Rail to lead the passengers from the trains to the station. Around 25 firefighters are currently in attendance.”

British Transport Police confirmed they were also on site: “Officers were called to Loughborough Junction Railway Station at just before 11am today (21 June) to reports of a train broken down nearby. Officers assisted Thameslink and Network Rail and all passengers have been evacuated safely.”

One passenger, Kam Zaki, described the ordeal on X (formerly Twitter): “stuck in @TLRailUK train to brighton between elephant & castle & loughborough junction past 20 minutes… rammed with people, hottest day of the year… why are there 1. no aircond? 2. no windows that can be opened? there is no ventilation… medical issues waiting to happen.”

The comes as the UK has recorded the hottest day of the year so far as the Met Office said there was a provisional temperature of more than 33C measured in Surrey.