Rail chief quits after hundreds of passengers including Rachel Riley stuck on cold trains in the dark for hours
A RAIL chief has quit after hundreds of passengers were stuck on cold trains in the dark for hours.
Michelle Handforth was Network Rail’s boss for the Wales and Western region.
Her resignation comes after an overhead cable failure caused all trains leaving London Paddington to come to a halt on December 7.
Travellers, including Countdown star Rachel Riley and singer James Blunt, were stranded in carriages — some with no information or access to toilets for more than three hours — in West London.
Blunt posted on X: “Been stuck somewhere outside Paddington for close to 4 hours now. Out of peanuts and wine”, while Riley wrote: “Nearly 4 hours after we got on, we’re getting off the Elizabeth line, woohoo!”
Seven GWR, Elizabeth Line and Heathrow Express services were disrupted.
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Ms Handforth, 61, had been in her £330,000-a-year role since 2020. In a letter, she told staff: “It’s been a real privilege to work with you all through the highs and lows of the past couple of years, and while this decision is a real wrench to me, I believe it is the right one for me, my family and the business.”
In its annual report Network Rail admitted satisfaction scores for over-crowding, cleanliness and station environment were below par in Ms Handforth’s region.
Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines said: “I would like to thank Michelle for her hard work and support over these past three-and-a-half years.”