A RAILWAY passenger has told of a nightmare journey which cost him two days pay and to add insult to injury, a £50 taxi fare.

Kevin Busby, a baker from Darlington, found himself stranded in Bath for two days because of the current rail disruption.

When he was finally able to begin his journey back to the North-East he was forced to make a 550 mile round trip, more than double the normal distance.

On arriving in Newcastle there were no services to Darlington because of track repairs and Mr Busby had to pay £50 for a taxi to get home.

He also lost two days pay from work because he was two days late getting back to work.

He said: "Trains have been running for years and years and then all of a sudden now there are all these problems.

"You have to ask what is going on? I think it is a bit of a shambles, really."

Mr Busby, 35, was visiting friends in Bath last month and paid for a return fare.

On the day he was due to travel back the railway station at Bristol was closed because of a collision between two freight trains.

There were also no rail services north of Birmingham because of restrictions and problems caused by flooding.

Two days later Mr Busby, who was now due back at work, was able to start his return journey.

However rather than travelling from Bristol, up through the Midlands and Yorkshire, to get back to the North-East, his rail trip took a lengthy twist.

Restrictions meant he had to travel from Bath to Newport, in Wales, to Crewe, to Carlisle, stopping off in Newcastle.

He then caught a taxi from Newcastle and finally arrived in Darlington at 10.30pm, having started his journey at midday.

Mr Busby has since written to rail operator Virgin to complain and is asking for compensation.

Dennis Lovett, of Virgin, said they were dealing with a backlog of applications from rail passengers asking for refunds which were being dealt with in turn.

He said: "We are getting 4,000 applications every day at the moment which we are working around the clock to process but people will get a reply."