Train chaos left Rolling Stones fans with two hour walk after gig

Train chaos left Rolling Stones concert goers with a two-hour walk after a gig in Twickenham Stadium on Tuesday night.

Fans were told as they were leaving the venue at around 10.30pm that the station had closed due to issues around the rail network.

They were advised to walk two miles to Richmond station where alternative transport would be available.

However, many of the crowd were elderly, making this journey on foot physically tough and taking several hours.

Judi Le Blanc went to see the show with her husband Richard. She said the pair walked for two hours towards Richmond station, before giving up and getting an taxi all the way to Windsor.

“My husband is 67 and he had stents put in his heart before Christmas”, said Mrs Le Blanc, who had paid £600 for two tickets to the show.

“He could have collapsed with a fatal heart attack any time last night.

“These are not young people going to a Rolling Stones concert - thank God there wasn’t a fatality. Most of the audience were in their 50s, 60s and 70s.”

David Scott, 39, said he saw paramedics attending to those who struggled with the walk.

“There were loads of older people being asked to walk to Richmond”, he said.

“The traffic around Twickenham was a total standstill - you couldn’t get a bus or a taxi.

“I saw a car driving at people because they were so irate at people walking on the road.

“My wife had heels on - she was totally blistered up by the time we got to Richmond.

“If you’re on crutches, or you’re older, there was nobody to do anything for you at Twickenham.

A spokesman for South Western Railway said: “We would like to apologise to passengers caught up in last night’s disruption.

“Due to a number of incidents services into and out of Waterloo were severely disrupted last night.

“These incidents resulted in crew and trains being severely displaced leading to knock on delays and disruption with some trains terminating short of their destinations and some cancellations.

“We alerted Twickenham stadium to issues we were having and asked them to direct concert goers to other transport modes where their tickets would be accepted.  

“Entry on to both Twickenham and Richmond stations was controlled at certain times to keep passengers safe away from the platforms until trains were available.”

A spokesman for Twickenham stadium said they acted as soon as they were made aware of the delays to tell fans about the travel disruption.