An Edinburgh passenger says he was left 'stranded' 185 miles away at Preston station when his train could go no further during Storm Dudley, while train staff 'ignored customers' and ordered 16 taxis back to Scotland.
Michael Clements was on his way back to Edinburgh from Birmingham New Street when his travel plans fell apart due to cancellations from the adverse weather conditions.
Originally from Stirling, the Scot was due to arrive at Edinburgh Haymarket at 8:30pm on Wednesday night to then travel on to his Stirling home but could not get further than Preston.
He was left unsure what to do or if he would be able to make it home that night when the train halted to a stop in Preston and passengers were told it could not go any further.
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There was allegedly no support or guidance from Avanti West Coast staff and Michael was left baffled when a group of the train staff left customers to book their own taxis from Carlisle back to various Scottish cities including Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling.
He went online to find a solution and get support but was told by a member of the travel company's online support team they '"weren't sure" if there would be any replacement services for passengers stranded over 100 miles from home in the stormy conditions.
Eventually Network Rail staff helped Michael find a bus service back to Edinburgh but the sting of being abandoned by Avanti West Coast staff has left him shocked and angry.
Avanti West Coast told Edinburgh Live that coaches were arranged for passengers in Preston travelling onto Scotland and advised customers would have been able to use their tickets on a train service the next day.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live Michael said:
"Avanti spent a lot of time arranging staff taxis to get them home and TransPennine have kept us somewhat informed of what is going on. It's a mess, to be honest but it does feel like rats from a sinking ship and they all knew it.
"I was travelling from Birmingham to Haymarket, I caught a train an hour early because of Storm Dudley.
"Avanti halted the northbound service at Preston, some got off, but I waited and we were told the TransPennine train on the opposite platform was going to Carlisle.
"I got on and found myself in amongst a load of Avanti staff sat in first class standing at the back, I heard a number of them contacting an Avanti colleague to arrange taxis to get them all home from Carlisle.
"We then got to Oxenholme and the train halted because of a suspected tree on the wires between there and Penrith.
"We wait around for getting on for an hour in Oxenholme and then suddenly all the Avanti staff start putting on coats and getting ready to leave.
"All the Avanti staff on the TransPennine Express service got off the train. I heard them all arranging taxis from Carlisle I quote 'I need 16 taxis from Carlisle to go to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Falkirk It's nice to see them look after their own and stuff the customer.
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"They all get off, I am assuming to get in the taxis and then just after that TransPennine manager announces the train cannot go north and we are to return to Preston to catch a bus.
"It wasn't Avanti who helped me get a bus in the end, it was due to Preston station staff. There wasn't any management in the customer service desk at Preston by Avanti, we were directed to where to find the buses by a Network Rail worker.
"I know people complained about Virgin West Coast, but when things like this happened, Virgin always looked after the customer and personally got me home."
A spokesperson for Avanti West Coast said: “We always endeavour to get customers where they need to be, and our staff worked hard to provide onward road transport for all customers travelling to stations north of Preston.
"As far as we’re aware no one was left behind. Taxis were arranged by station staff for customers travelling to Lancaster and Oxenholme. Coaches were arranged for those travelling to Penrith, Carlisle, and Scotland.
“Customers travelling to and from Scotland also had the option to use their original travel tickets for our services today (Thursday 17 February). We’re trying to make contact with the customer to establish what happened on this occasion.”
Avanti West Coast took over from Virgin Trains as the operator running the West Coast Main Line in 2019 after 22 years.
