Temperatures plunged to below -4C, there was no heating, no lighting and little information.

For the hundreds of passengers trapped on five trains overnight, it was, understandably, a “night of hell”.

Some hoisted themselves up onto luggage racks in a desperate bid to get some sleep, others huddled under foil blankets while fellow travellers unpacked suitcases and donned as many layers as possible.

There were children and there were pensioners, all of them stranded and all of them frozen to the core. One likened it to being on “some kind of sitcom” while others used social media to send desperate pleas to friends, family and the rail operators begging for help.

Early on, people played music, dancing to Madonna tracks to stay warm, but as the night wore on, the Blitz spirit faded and they became too cold to move.