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Frustrated commuters complained of a second evening of "hectic" crowds at Waterloo station as £800million of upgrade works continued.

Passengers told how it felt “absolutely suffocating” at the station during the Tuesday evening rush hour and on the second weekday since the project began.

By 6pm the concourse was packed with commuters waiting for information, while Tube passengers were held back in tunnels to reduce the crush.

Trains that were running were delayed into the evening following a points failure and trespass incident outside the station earlier in the day.

Ten platforms, half the total at the station — the UK’s busiest, dealing with 100 million passengers a year — are closed until Tuesday August 29 as part of an £800 million Network Rail (NR) programme to lengthen platforms to accommodate longer trains.

Staff were handing out free water and ice creams to passengers at the station on Tuesday evening.

Lauren Bellew, a legal PA, from Putney told the Standard the atmosphere at the station was very “hectic” and that it was “heaving with people”.

The 22-year-old said: “It was absolutely suffocating. There were double the amount of people all at one end of the station. Having the Eurostar platforms open is a help in a way but it’s still very crowded.

“People are struggling to reach their platform as they can't weave in and out of other people standing waiting for their train to appear and there isn't any kind of system like they have at Clapham Junction but the station staff are trying their best, especially with free water.

“The shift staff up at the Waterloo East balcony seem to be keeping a look out and they have ambulance crew there also. I know Waterloo can get busy but it's heaving.”

Other passengers took to social media to vent their frustration.

Richard Haro tweeted: “Minor chaos at Waterloo right now.”

An Network Rail spokesman said: "Following earlier delays at London Waterloo, and the arrest of a trespasser who was on the line near Vauxhall for more than 40 minutes this afternoon, there is disruption on services into and out of the station this evening.

"There are additional staff in stations, providing bottled water as well as help and advice to passengers. As part of our established protocol, a queuing system is in operation to keep congestion in the station to a minimum.

"With a major £800 million upgrade project under way, we are continuing to advise passengers to use alternative routes or travel outside busy periods where possible over the next three weeks."

It has also emerged that NR chief executive Mark Carne has gone on a two-week holiday to Cornwall from August 8, after spending hours at Waterloo on Monday as the engineering work continued.

An NR spokesman added: "Mark Carne was at Waterloo for over 12 hours yesterday on the first commuter day of the partial closure of Waterloo, helping passengers and talking to the media.

"The Network Rail managing director for Wessex, Becky Lumlock, and responsible for the Waterloo work, is working hand-in-glove with her opposite number at South West trains throughout as well as with our projects managing director and chairman."