Merseyrail passengers faced hours of delays after a trespasser made their way onto the tracks at Liverpool Central station.
Services on both the Wirral line and the Northern line were shut down at short notice at around 4.30pm, with warnings that disruption on the Northern line could last until 10.30pm.
Emma Dunford, from Kirkby, was on her way home from Liverpool Central Station when her train suddenly shut down in the middle of a tunnel while leaving Moorfields.
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She said: "I got on the train as normal, and once we passed Moorfields it stopped and you could hear the electric all went off, though the lights were still on. We were sat on the train about an hour and they were keeping us updated constantly, and they said somebody had gone onto the lines. They wouldn't elaborate on it or anything, but after an hour all the lights went off on the train, so we were in the dark.
"It was pretty busy the train. Everyone stayed calm and after a few minutes they said "what we're going to do is open the doors at the front, so if you want to evacuate you can". So a lot of people went to the front of the train, which was at the very edge of the Moorfields platform. Most people got off, but some people couldn't because they had prams.
"The staff on the train said somebody had gone onto the line. They said it was trespassers who had gone onto the tracks at Liverpool Central, so they had turn all the electricity off to stop them being electrocuted. I don't think anyone was hurt, because I asked one of the train guards and she said no."
After spending an hour on the stopped train, Emma said she had trouble hailing a taxi due to how busy the city was, and eventually made it home 45 minutes later – a journey which would have taken just 15 minutes on the train.
The Southport line, Ormskirk line and Headbolt Lane via Kirby line were all affected by delays and cancellations due to the trespassers. Hunts Cross line users were offered a replacement bus service between Hunts Cross and Sandhills via Moorfields in both directions.
A spokesperson for British Transport Police said: "Officers were called to the line near Liverpool Central railway station at around 4.45pm yesterday (10 December) following reports of a man on the tracks. Officers conducted a full search of the area however there was no trace of the man."
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