Bristol passengers tell of train chaos
Passengers heading to, from or through Bristol faced major problems all Tuesday morning as the line was closed from 5am to 1.15pm.
Engineers from Network Rail, which apologised for the delays, worked throughout the early part of the day to try and fix the problem.
The company would not confirm or deny reports that part of the signalling mechanism had been stolen by children.
A spokeswoman said it was continuing to investigate the cause of the fault.
Confusion reigned at Temple Meads as customers of First Great Western were herded between platform to platform.
Last minute cancellations, alterations and unexpected delays struck a variety of services throughout the morning.
Passengers travelling to Avonmouth, Bath, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Weymouth and Cardiff faced delayed and cancelled services.
Some were forced to queue in freezing temperatures to catch a replacement bus service to reach their destination.
But passengers' patience began to run out when they were told buses were also held up, following a road accident in Keynsham.
Leaving Temple Meads, cancelled trains included the 7.49am, 8.22am and 9.22am to Portsmouth, the 8.41am to Weymouth, the 9.05am to Westbury and the 9.54am to Cardiff.
Arriving at the station, the 8.29am train from Warminster was cancelled and trains from London Paddington were delayed.
Soldier Pete Griffiths, 25, was forced off of his train from Hereford to Salisbury at Temple Meads at 8.25am and was told to wait for a bus to complete his journey.
He has just seen the cost of his fare increase from £27 to £31.80.
Mr Griffiths said: "I was supposed to be going straight through, but was told I had to get off the train and onto a bus. I'm not sure when it will turn up.
"I was told kids had nicked a signal cable and that had caused all the delays."
He added: "It costs me more getting the train than it would in my high-powered car. Is it any wonder people decide to forgo public transport and travel in their cars?"
Gary Cross, 26, who lives near Queen Square in the city centre, was trying to get to Trowbridge where he works as a software engineer.
He said: "I wanted to get on the 7.49am train but that was cancelled and I waited for the 8.22am one and that was cancelled as well.
"The service has been pretty rubbish but there's not a lot we can do about it."
Product development manager John McMahon, 28, who lives in Broad Street, was also held up on his journey to work in Trowbridge.
He said: "It's a complete inconvenience because it's freezing cold and it's pretty resonant for those who've had to pay higher fares. But I've not experienced frequent problems on the trains."
Lee Wortley, 25, from Arnos Vale, said the cancellations caused him to be late for his job as a software developer in Bath.
Mr Wortley, whose fare has just risen by seven per cent, said: "One train was cancelled so I went to the information desk and they told me to go to a different platform, where a train would be waiting for me.
"But when I got there, I was told they don't hold back trains for particular passengers.
"I was then told to get the Weymouth train and then that was cancelled. This means I will be late for work and will have to stay there late tonight."
Stefan Kruger, 39, from Redland, said he was considering taking the day off work after failing to get to Bath by train.
He said: "We got to one platform and the train was cancelled, we went to another and sat on it for 20 minutes before being told that was cancelled as well.
"We were told to wait for a coach but then it emerged that it wasn't going to Bath. I've had enough and I might just go home."
A spokesman for First Great Western said: "At 5am Network Rail let us know about a fault to some electronic equipment between Temple Meads and Bath Spa.
"This has meant that we were not able to run any of our normal services between Bristol and Bath and caused some delays to services into London Paddington.
"I would like to apologise to our customers who were caught up in it.
"It was completely outside our control but Network Rail assured us that they were working as quickly as possible to rectify the situation."
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