A passenger travelling to Edinburgh 'couldn't feel her hands' after being stranded in Newcastle and left queuing outside for hours in the snow.
Ilaria Rucco, 34, was travelling from Chesterfield to Edinburgh when her train was halted and passengers told to get off as the line was shut due to adverse weather conditions.
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She recalled how train staff initially advised that replacement coaches would be available but thousands were left outside queueing in the cold waiting for information as there were insufficient replacement services in place.
Hotels and taxis booked up quickly with some paying £110 to get from Newcastle to Edinburgh while many commuters were left to find their own way home.
Speaking to Edinburgh Live Ilaria said: "I left from Nottingham yesterday morning, arrived in Chesterfield and from Chesterfield to Edinburgh.
"I arrived in Newcastle soon before 12 and on the train, there was a voice that announced that there were some problems with the line, then we spoke to a person on the train and he told us to wait for other announcements.
"After some minutes the train manager came and he said 'get off of the train...did you understand? This train is not going anywhere.
"I asked him 'Well, how can I get to Edinburgh?' and he replied, 'Well I don't know...ask someone on the platform'.
"Obviously, nobody was there, so I asked customer service where a woman told me that she didn't know and that maybe the train from platform 3 (LNRE) was leaving..
"I went there and a woman said that there were some coaches picking up us at the entrance, so it was better that we went there, again I went to the entrance but still nothing was happening. So I asked other people and still saw on the screen that the train from platform 3 was leaving.
"I went there again and a woman on the train told me to go on the train because it was very cold outside - it was snowing - and she told me that they had no clue and that they were waiting for news from the train manager but that for sure there were some coaches and one was almost arriving."
After waiting in the cold for hours with many other stressed passengers, Ilaria described the situation as 'chaos'.
She explained: "So she advised me to wait at the entrance. In the meantime I bought the ticket with the national express, bought something quick in Sainsbury's and went to the bus station, waiting for 45 minutes in the cold because the waiting room was closed
"The bus arrived at 14.30, they saw that my ticket was not good and so they started to get people in and at the end there were some places... obviously, there were two old people that went there and then a man, very clever, went there too but I didn't get a space."
After missing out on the coach, the 34-year-old said she continued to queue outside in the sub-zero temperatures.
"So I started queuing and obviously I was freezing. At some point ai couldn't feel my hands and feet anymore. In the meantime, I asked on Facebook if someone was coming to Newcastle and after two hours of queuing someone going to Edinburgh replied to me and so I went to Starbucks to warm up a bit," she said.
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Finally, a kind stranger also travelling to Edinburgh stepped in to save the day. Ilaria explained: "The woman going to Edinburgh, Skye, came at 10.30pm and she was an absolute angel. I know that people paid £110 each for the taxi and I mean, if you didn't have the money you couldn't do anything.
"When I was queuing, a guy from LNER came and he told us 'I will be very honest with you: there are no coaches, there will be no trains till tomorrow, all the hotels are fully booked and thus the queue is for the taxi, but I don't know if there will be enough taxi for everyone, so please, if the weather gets worse go into the station. The only thing that we can do, if the weather gets worse, is put everybody on a train to make you feel warm.' The disruption was at 11.30am and in 5 hours they were not able to do anything and this is ridiculous."
After hours of travelling, the group eventually got back to Edinburgh. Further travel disruption is expected into the weekend as a yellow weather warning is in place across Scotland with more snow and ice expected.
LNER has been approached for comment.
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