'AROUND a hundred' travellers 'went nuts' when they were left stranded at a train station bound for Bournemouth.

People travelling from Southampton Parkway to Bournemouth had to wait around forty minutes for a rail replacement coach.

South Western Railway had previously reported its service would be significantly disrupted by engineering works over the weekend.  

Dave Whitelock, 67, had been travelling with his son Dan, 29, from London Waterloo to Bournemouth on Saturday night. 

However, along with "hundreds of other passengers", he was forced to wait forty minutes for a bus replacement service at Southampton Parkway. 

He says that travellers were guaranteed by staff from SWR that a coach would be waiting to take them on to Bournemouth. 

But on arrival, there was no service.

Dave said: “There was one member of staff from SWR there who told us to queue outside the station and when we started to queue to wait, he disappeared.

“Then a ten-seater bus arrived, picked up a few people from the middle of the queue – not the start of the queue – and then disappeared."

Bournemouth Echo: Crowds gather outside Southampton airport parkway station waiting for bus replacement services Crowds gather outside Southampton airport parkway station waiting for bus replacement services (Image: Crowds gather outside Southampton airport parkway station waiting for bus replacement services)

'People were just going nuts'

During this time people began getting more and more frustrated, he added.

He said: “At that point, people were just going nuts, we were probably there for a good half hour waiting for transport back.”

Dave added: "If they’re going to run a bus service then they need to make sure it works."

During the stop-off, Dave says there weren’t any staff available, and passengers were left to wonder whether they were going to get home in time.

'The most frustrating part was the lack of communication'

Steve Nicholas, 34, who was on the same service from London said: “The most frustrating part was the lack of information as there were no staff around or information boards.

“I noticed a couple of people boarding the bus who had mobility issues, they would have had to stand around in the darkness for half an hour which is really poor on SWR's part.”

In response to the delays, SWR said customers could claim back money they spent on alternative transport.

A spokesperson for the train operator said: “Due to replacement transport issues in the Bournemouth & Southampton areas, customers due to travel on replacement buses in these areas have been authorised to source transport such as taxis or use local buses and claim the cost of this back through our customer service team.”

In a previous statement, SWR said that due to a shortage of buses, it could not confirm that all rail replacement services on the Southampton to Bournemouth line would run on Saturday.

Furthermore, that services would likely be busy and customers should allow extra time for their journey.