A "very full" Transport for Wales train had to be evacuated over a "serious health and safety issue" as malfunctioning air conditioning failed to stop temperatures soaring.
One passenger, returning to Cardiff on Friday after attending the previous night's Harry Styles gig in Manchester, told WalesOnline that she boarded the 2.31pm service from Manchester Piccadilly to Milford Haven. She said: "We were due to get the 3.31pm. However, we had an email at 12.42pm to say it had been cancelled due to a fault on the train. We decided to try our luck by getting the earlier one despite our tickets only being valid on the booked route.
"The 2.31pm train was delayed by about five minutes. We fortunately managed to get a seat but there were several people standing near the doors and the train was very full. It was very hot but we weren’t surprised. We then had a message on the tannoy to say the air con was broken and engineers would we waiting at Crewe to try and fix the issue there.
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"However when we arrived at Crewe there was another tannoy message to say that the train would need to be cancelled due to a 'serious health and safety issue' where the air con was unable to be fixed and temperatures inside the carriage had reached 36 degrees. Everyone then had to get off, at least 100 people if not more."
The passenger said the train was "packed full" with Harry Styles gig-goers as well as people on their way to Cardiff for hen parties and weekends away. "It’s ridiculous they only put on two carriages for the journey in the first place," she added.
Recent weeks have seen heavy criticism of Transport for Wales' service for Cardiff's Ed Sheeran concerts and a Wales football match, amid scenes of overcrowding and long queues outside Cardiff Central station. Rail firms have warned Stereophonics and Tom Jones fans to expect queues for trains from Cardiff on Friday and Saturday nights after their Principality Stadium gigs. You can read more about that here.
A spokesperson for Transport for Wales said: “Due to today’s very high temperatures and an air conditioning system failure on board the 2.31pm Manchester Piccadilly to Milford Haven service, the train was terminated at Crewe on safety grounds. Ticket acceptance has been agreed with West Midlands Railway and CrossCountry so passengers can continue their journeys to South Wales via Birmingham. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”
