Comedian’s ‘insane’ journey as train cancelled while he was on board | UK News
Delays and disruption are no surprise for regular public transport users, but one poor commuter experienced a disastrous journey from hell after his train was cancelled – while it was still moving.
Rail passenger James Nokise revealed his ‘insane’ 11-hour attempt to reach Edinburgh from London which ended in the early hours of the morning with a ‘ridiculous’ taxi ride.
The stand-up comedian was among hundreds of people booted off an Avanti West Coast train at Preston station in Lancashire on Monday night.
James shared his ‘truly insane odyssey’ with his almost 11,000 followers in a viral thread viewed more than 11million times on X, formerly known as Twitter.
He finally arrived in the Scottish capital five hours late after the transport company was forced to arrange taxis to take disgruntled travellers to their destinations.
Also on the train was a group of 50 pupils from Greenfaulds High School in Cumbernauld, near Glasgow.
Their teachers had little choice but to source a private coach after they said Preston station staff told them children could not travel alone in taxis – leaving them ‘effectively stuck’.
James wrote: ‘I’m not quite sure how to explain what’s happened tonight, because it’s still happening – but here goes… At 4.40pm I jumped on a train from London to Edinburgh.
‘It was comfy, it was quiet. In hindsight, too good to last.
‘Around 7.26pm I received an email that my train had been cancelled.
‘This was a surprise because…I was still on a moving train and there had been no announcement on the moving train.’
James was left further stunned when the train manager announced on the speaker that they had ‘heard from passengers’ the train had been cancelled, and were investigating.
‘Shortly after that, they informed us the “rumours were true” and the train had been cancelled and would be terminating at the next stop: Preston.’
Passengers were told they could get on a connecting train to Glasgow around 8pm – which was full – with the next train not due to arrive until 9.42pm.
Around 9.20pm they were informed alternative transport had been arranged, James said.
‘Bus? An extra train? Horses? No.
‘Taxis. For hundreds of people. To a city three and a half hours away,’ he wrote.
‘Except we weren’t all going to Edinburgh, because it wasn’t an express train.
‘Some were going to Glasgow, some to Dundee, Carlisle and other stops.
‘But all of us queued to be taken away three to seven people at a time.
‘And if that sounds slow and ridiculous, it was.’
He ended up in the last cab with three other men all travelling alone, at 10.30 – 15 mins after the train was due to arrive in Edinburgh.
Just after midnight further drama ensued when the cab driver ‘decided to change lanes without indicating and almost crashed into a mini-van overtaking him’.
After being thrown off course by the GPS, they finally arrived in Edinburgh.
James expressed sympathy for the driver, who was driving back to Preston straight after.
He added: ‘Throwing money at cab drivers and getting them to drive several hours in the middle of the night might not be the best contingency plan for train companies to take.
‘[He] says he is fine, and hey, maybe he is.
‘But it’s pretty twisted that he doesn’t get taken care of, by either his company or the train company hiring him.’
While he was on the cab journey, he received an email from Avanti West Coast saying his trip was ‘eligible for compensation’ totalling £70.
In a statement sent to Metro.co.uk, the train company has apologised to commuters ‘caught up in the disruption’.
An Avanti West Coast spokesperson said: ‘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 traincrew 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.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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