Kids were left in tears in 'disgusting' scenes at a Blackpool train station late Saturday evening (September 25).
Thousands had flocked to Blackpool to take in the World Firework Championships as Ireland aimed to follow up the Russian display from a fortnight ago.
Blackpool Council warned that the popular event was likely to lead to increased congestion for people travelling in and out of the town by car.
However, those who aimed to get the last train out of the resort from Blackpool North were left distraught when the last service of the day was cancelled.
Northern Rail apologised in a statement in response to a complaint. They said: "I'm very sorry for the crowding that you experienced at Blackpool North station yesterday evening and the cancellation to the last service of the day."
The cancellation of the final train of the day led to hundreds of people rushing to the station to catch the earlier train.
There was confusion after many boarded a train, only to be told that train was also cancelled, before then being told to re-board the train later.
Mark Scowcroft, who was in Blackpool that evening having travelled from Kirkham, told LancsLive: "We arrived at the station, rammed with what I can only guess was hundreds of people.
"The doors to the platform were closed, hardly anyone was wearing masks, no ventilation, complaints of people overheating and nobody exactly sure what was happening.
"We were waiting until 10.40pm until we all were squeezed through one door to get into the platform 4 and then eventually onto the packed train!
"People were squashing each other to fit into the carriages. We were all like this for ten minutes until over the tannoy they flatly said this service had been cancelled and to leave the train. We all then piled back into the main concourse of the station only to find the staff didn't know anything about what was going on."
At that point many people decided that it wasn't worth the hassle and started to flag down taxis.
Mark said: "Then about 15 minutes later, a staff member shouted at the top of his voice 'everyone back on the train.'
"From that point people surged towards the one door to the platform. It was mayhem.. Kids were crying and parents with prams were having to try and get the staff to open the other doors.
"Eventually we all got back on, squashed again like sardines."
The train eventually delivered Mark home to Kirkham before continuing on to Manchester via. Preston.
Chris Jackson, Regional Director at Northern, said: “I want to apologise to those who experienced the difficult conditions at Blackpool North and anyone whose journey was disrupted on Saturday evening.
“As a result several incidents, some involving the emergency services, at locations across the north west on Saturday night we were unable to get all of our trains and crew where they needed to be. Sadly we were left with no option other than to cancel some services.
“We worked hard to keep customers on the move and, for those at Blackpool North, were able to source additional staff to run a previously cancelled service.”
Chris added: “The complexity of the incidents on Saturday evening created really difficult operating conditions, but we accept we fell short of the expectations of our customers and our own standards and, again, I apologise to all who were affected by the disruption.”
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