Rail engineering works on the way to a major international airport in southeast England have triggered chaos and overcrowding, as thousands of people were forced to use replacement buses.
The Southern Rail company has even advised passengers not to travel amid disruptions, which are expected to continue until the end of the day.
#GatwickAirport — The queue time at Gatwick Airport to board a bus is currently 2 hours and it is strongly advised to not travel towards Brighton today.
— National Rail (@nationalrailenq) May 6, 2018
"There are currently large queues for the replacement bus services at Gatwick Airport and overcrowding at the station," the company's statement reads.
⛔ #SNUpdates — Due to overcrowding, passengers for Brighton & the South coast are strongly advised not to travel today.
— Southern (@SouthernRailUK) May 6, 2018
🛩️ Passengers for Gatwick Airport should allow an extra 30 mins for their journey
🎫 Tickets will be valid on all SW Railway and SouthEastern services pic.twitter.com/i8oo8kZJUt
According to The Sun, at least 4,000 passengers have been stranded by the situation, yet to be complicated by fights between angry Bank Holiday travelers.
A lot of people decided to express their outrage on Twitter, accusing Southern Rail of being extremely ineffective.
.@SW_Railway couldn’t run a bath let alone a rail company 🤦🏻♂️
— Jordan (@jordmiller) April 20, 2018
Some even were calling the current situation disgraceful.
Absolutely shocking scenes at Gatwick airport… only 2 train platforms operational. Then a rail replacement bus south to Three Bridges and this is the queue on 3 levels of concourse for the bus! On one of the hottest days. @SouthernRailUK this is disgraceful! pic.twitter.com/n47TF46TMG
— Rhi (@rhiam88) May 6, 2018
— A I M I E A (@Aimieatkinson) May 6, 2018