'˜It felt like we were cooking on train with broken air-con'

PASSENGERS say they were forced to get off an '˜unbearably hot' train with broken air conditioning.

Ann Carver got on the 2.04pm South West Trains service from Havant with the intention of travelling to London for a meeting.

But the 52-year-old said she and a male passenger were forced to get off at Petersfield.

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The pair were unable to cope with the heat on board the train, because its air conditioning system is not working.

Ann said: ‘When I stepped on the train I could feel that it was really hot, and the toilets were smelling, which I thought was weird.

‘Then when the door closed and the train started moving the guard let passengers know over the tannoy system that the air conditioning wasn’t working, and I could see other passengers were just completely flagging.

‘The heat was so unbearable that myself and another passenger got off at Petersfield to wait for the next train to London.

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‘Luckily I left my house earlier than I should have done or I would be missing my meeting later on today.

‘It would have been nice for the announcement to have been made by the train’s steward before we got on board, so passengers could have made a decision about whether or not to get on, or wait for the next one.

‘It was absolutely sweltering, everyone was slumped in their seats, commenting on how unbearably hot it was – and there’s no windows on the train either. It felt like we were cooking.’

A spokesman for South West Trains confirmed the train’s fleet team were unaware of the fault when it went into service.

He said: ‘The train will be met at 3.23pm at London Waterloo and fixed, or taken out of service if that’s not possible.’

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