Rail passengers were stuck on trains for nearly six hours after a power supply problem brought travel chaos to routes through the UK's busiest interchange station at Clapham Junction.

As water was handed out to passengers sweltering in non air-conditioned trains, firefighters used short-extension ladders to evacuate 904 travellers from one stricken train. One passenger needed medical attention.

Another train, which had left Brighton at 6.56am and should have reached London's Victoria station at 8.15am, was finally towed into Wandsworth station in south west London shortly before 1pm.

Passengers spoke of nightmare scenes at a packed Clapham Junction.

For some hours no Southern train company services were able to run in or out of Victoria while the Gatwick Express service was suspended.

The Argus:

The problem, was caused by damage - between Wandsworth Common and Clapham Junction - to the "third rail" conductor rail which, in turn, damaged some of the trains.

By early afternoon, trains were able to run through Clapham and in and out of Victoria, but passengers were warned to expect delays for the rest of the day.

Passengers heading for London from southern England found they had to get off well short of their destination and travel in on other rail routes.

The unfortunate ones got stuck on trains unable to get through Clapham Junction.

One of the passengers on the badly-delayed 6.56am Brighton train, was student Hannah Phillips, 20, from Eastbourne, EastSussex.

She said: "I was lucky that I was carrying a bottle of water with me as it was getting very hot on the train. This is probably the worst train journey I've experienced."

Another passenger on the held-up Brighton train was Ben Goode. He tweeted: "This is a shambles."

The Argus:

 

Also on the train was former Argus reporter Anna Roberts, now working for the Press Association.

She said: "Police and paramedics boarded our train because there is no air conditioning. They said they were bringing water but not enough for everyone to have one bottle each.

"Eventually we got water in plastic containers which we are passing around the carriage. We were told that was all that was available. With the power off, it's like an oven in here. Police have said it's too dangerous to walk down the track."

FiniasFinn tweeted: "Clapham Junction is the worst station ever. I realise it's chaos but no staff helping and being arrogant is not a help."

Thomas Michael Jules wrote: "Avoid Clapham Junction today people! Mayhem!!"

A person called Precious tweeted: "Complete chaos at Clapham Junction this morning as trains are delayed left, right and centre. What a nightmare!"

Mick Cash, general secretary of the RMT rail union, said: "Chaos at major London railway stations is now a matter of course as the reality of trying to shove growing passenger numbers into an overstretched and understaffed network hits home.

"It is about time Network Rail properly valued those staff who are battling to keep services moving that are routinely running right on the edge.

"The hundreds of millions of pounds bled from our railways by privatisation would have gone a long way to building in the capacity and reliability that passengers rightly demand."

A spokesman for the Southern train company said: "We would like to apologise to our passengers who have been disrupted by today's events. We'd also like to thank them for their patience and understanding during some very challenging circumstances.

"We currently have a very limited service into and out of Victoria while Network Rail repairs the power supply rail and we are advising passengers to avoid using Victoria if at all possible.

"We expect there to be disruption to this evening's peak, with delays, cancellations and short-notice alterations to services as trains and train crews will be out of place."

Network Rail (NR) urged evening rush-hour passengers to consider starting their journeys either earlier or later than normal and to check with websites and social media sites before travelling.

An NR spokesman added that Southern services to and from London Bridge would also be affected by possible delays, while Victoria station was likely to be very busy, with a queuing system in place for services from platforms 15-19.