A TRAIN passenger woke up in the "wrong city" after the Caledonian Sleeper never left Glasgow Central Station.
Jim Metcalfe said he and other passengers woke up in the city centre station yesterday morning after they boarded the train and were left to fall asleep after not being told it was cancelled.
Mr Metcalfe, a charity executive based in East Renfrewshire, was due to travel to London for work on the Caledonian Sleeper service at 11.40pm on Tuesday night.
READ MORE: Rail travel between Scotland and England disrupted following record heat
Upon waking up in Glasgow at around 5.30am, he tweeted: "@CalSleeper In 15 years of using this train, and through many bizarre twists and turns, this has to be strangest yet.
"Wake up, and the train never left Glasgow.
"It was just sat here all night, and now we have been thrown off it at 5.30am in the wrong city.
"Cal Sleeper tweeted that the service was on last night, let people board, and just left us sitting here all night.
"They let everyone get in and go to sleep, and just left us here.
"I’m travelling for work. It’s hard to even know what to say…"
@CalSleeper In 15 years of using this train, and through many bizarre twists and turns, this has to be strangest yet. Wake up, and the train never left Glasgow. It was just sat here all night, and now we have been thrown off it at 5.30am in the wrong city. pic.twitter.com/MZyRwm9C7E
— Jim Metcalfe (@jim_metcalfe) July 20, 2022
He later explained to the BBC: "I can't sleep before it starts moving so I get on early and try to sleep first, so I got on at 10.30pm and was asleep by 11pm.
"That was it really.
"There was a knock on the door at 5am and a guy very kindly appeared with a roll and sausage and coffee - he explained the train hadn't moved.
"We were told we had to get off because they needed the platform back.
"It was more surreal than anything else - I should have been 300 miles away."
However, Mr Metcalfe praised rail staff for how they handled the situation and said the incident was a "minor inconvenience".
Direct journeys between London and Scotland were cancelled yesterday due to damage to the train tracks and overhead cables caused by the heatwave.
Network Rail said staff had worked through the night to repair the damage and confirmed yesterday that the East Coast Mainline had been reopened.
Kathryn Darbandi, Serco’s managing director for Caledonian Sleeper: "We apologise to guests affected by the cancellation of our overnight services between Scotland and London.
"This was due to a fault identified on the line, late in the evening, related to the extreme temperatures causing problems across the network, which were outside of our control.
"We made all efforts to support guests impacted, including providing overnight accommodation on board and options for travel on alternative rail services the next day.
"All guests will receive a full refund."
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