Train driver ‘refuses to depart’ for Manchester Piccadilly due to ‘unsafe overcrowding’

A train driver in London refused to depart for Manchester Piccadilly because he deemed the cabins too overcrowded to be considered safe, it has been reported.

The incident happened on Saturday October 7th, just days after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak axed the Birmingham to Manchester leg of the HS2 train at a conference in the city.

The high speed service, which was due to be completed in 2025, was designed to reduce capacity on the West Coast Main Line.

According to reports, the driver had said: “The train’s going nowhere until passengers leave.”

A picture, tweeted by Channel 4 correspondent and author Symeon Brown, shows a carriage with full seats and passengers standing in the aisle waiting to leave.

It was an Avanti West Coast train from London Euston to Manchester Piccadilly on Saturday morning, it is understood.

In a tweet Mr Brown said: “This week the PM cancelled the HS2 from London to Manchester that would reduce overcrowding. 

“Today I’m on a train for Manchester with the driver refusing to depart as ‘it’s unsafe’ due to overcapacity. 

“’The train’s going nowhere until passengers leave’, he says”.

Just 10 minutes after his first tweet, Mr Brown added: “10 minutes after I took that picture there was twice as many people standing in the walkway.”

A spokesperson for Avanti West Coast said the overcrowded train was due to ‘severe weather’ which saw cancellations because of floods in Scotland and parts of Northern England due to heavy downpours.

They said: “We asked some passengers to leave this service as the train was busy as a result of the severe weather. 

“In some circumstances when services are overcrowded a train will not depart for safety reasons and it would be requested that some customers board another service. 

“Those affected would be able to get the next available train.

“Due to the extreme weather conditions on Saturday October 7th, services were severely impacted across the entire rail network.

“As a result, trains have been busier than normal. We thank our customers for their patience and apologise for any inconvenience caused.”

At the Conservative Party conference in his speech on Wednesday, Mr Sunak ended days of speculation when he announced he was scrapping the entire northern leg of the HS2 train, which he claimed would save £36 billion.

He promised to reinvest the money into improving train and transport networks up north.

The announcement brought an end to over a decade of hope and promises to align the north with the south and make it possible for people, including businesses, to travel between Manchester and London in just an hour and 10 minutes.

It was hoped the train would free up crucial space on Avanti West Coast Main Line trains.

However, the government have said the new HS2 trains will still travel into Manchester, but will join the West Coast Main Line from Birmingham to Manchester. It added that the journey time will still be cut.