Passengers blasted Stansted Airport’s ‘shambles’ of a response to ‘ongoing issues’, which left people stranded for hours without water or toilet access.
The London airport confirmed to Metro that, due to a technical issue, its track transit people mover system was unavailable.
While a coaching contingency service was implemented, demand has remained high during the ‘busy period’.
Travellers were warned that their journeys could ‘take longer than would normally be expected’.
A spokesperson added that engineers have been ‘working hard to restore the service as soon as possible’ as the outage continued into the night.
‘Engineers are working hard to restore the service as soon as possible, while additional staff have been deployed to help keep passengers informed and assist managing queues,’ they said.
‘We apologise to passengers for any inconvenience and disruption this issue may have caused to their journeys through the airport.’
Taking to social media, the likes of @GroundhopperGr1 shared snaps of the chaos, with a crowd of arrivals stuck in a queue.
He wrote: ‘Absolute shambles at @STN_Airport. The shuttle from plane to terminals conked out this morning and there is no contingency other than a bus which cant cope with the ever-growing backlog. We have spent longer in this queue than the flight. No water, no toilets no updates.’
Also today, stormy weather disrupted the train lines between Broxbourne and Stansted Airport, with a ‘do not travel’ warning given.
Earlier this evening, Greater Anglia said a tree had fallen onto the tracks near Stansted Mountfitchet in Essex, impacting the wires overhead.
Network Rail response teams were sent to investigate the issue while services were either cancelled, delayed, or revised.
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Blocked lines soon began affecting Greater Anglia services between London Liverpool Street and Cambridge North, Hertford East, Ely, and Bishop’s Stortford.
Elsewhere, shortly after 1.10pm, a freight container train travelling from London Gateway partly derailed at Barking, causing ‘significant disruption’ and blocking platforms.
It was confirmed that there weren’t any passengers on board at the time, and no injuries were reported.
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch was notified and deployed to the site.
National Rail has warned that back-to-back storms Austen and Boelo have the potential to affect journeys across the whole weekend.
More than 15,000 homes were left without power in the wake of Storm Austen today as its 80mph gusts battered southern England and Wales.
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Schools in Jersey and Guernsey closed for the day, as did some in Cornwall.
What’s more, ferry services between the UK and France were cancelled, and fresh food shortages on the Channel Islands are expected in the coming days due to the lack of ferries.
Tomorrow, Storm Boelo is forecast to bring stronger winds and heavy rain.
Winds will be their most intense on Saturday evening, then extend eastwards through Sunday.
The Met Office has put an amber warning in place in parts of Scotland, northern England, and Northern Ireland.
It said there’s a ‘good chance’ of power cuts and has warned people about flying debris and damage to buildings.
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