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A Southern train "broke in half" causing travel misery for London commuters yesterday evening.

Two carriages came apart near Battersea Park station because of a fault with the mechanism that holds them together, the operator said.

A spokesman added no passengers were on board the train, thought to have been moving, but members of the public joined rail union Aslef in voicing criticism of the train company.

District organiser Graham Morris said: "I am extremely concerned that a train can become divided in any circumstances.

"While this was an empty train it would have been in passenger service at some point. We will be seeking assurances from the company that this is a one off incident and not a fault associated with the entire fleet."

Thousands of passengers, many leaving London Victoria, were hit by delays as a result of the major fault, prompting commuters to take to Twitter to vent their frustration.

1 problem and @SouthernRailUK 's network crumbles into dust. No information available, no sign of a coherent contingency plan #batterseapark — Annabel Lawrence (@Ajl46) October 7, 2015

Well that was a fun commute home. #BatterseaPark — Gail E Bishop (@gailebishop) October 7, 2015

Confused how a broken down train at Battersea Park means nothing moving out of VIC — totkat (@totkat) October 7, 2015

Some also criticised Southern's description of the incident as a "train fault" while others made light of the situation - which meant commuters had to wait up to 45 minutes for trains or catch replacement bus services.

@SouthernRailUK do you really think "a train fault" is a adequate (or honest) description of carriages decoupling? #BatterseaPark — David Davis (@feline_one) October 8, 2015

My overall feelings towards todays events has gone from to now that I've seen this. #BatterseaPark pic.twitter.com/jCABSHLV0Z — Tamsyn Elizabeth (@peachesandbear) October 7, 2015

A Southern spokesman said: "The train involved was empty and not in passenger service. It was travelling to Victoria to form an onward service.

"On inspection it appears that the fault lies with a coupling pin. If carriages become separated, brakes are automatically applied.

"An investigation is taking place into the cause of the incident."

He added: "Early evidence suggests it was a very unusual one off incident. As a precautionary measure the rest of the southern class 455 fleet is being inspected.”

The disruption came towards the end of a day of misery for the capital's rail users.

Four London Underground lines were struck by signal failures while a services from Waterloo were disrupted after a man died when he was hit by a train at Surbiton station in south west London.