relatively unscathed by the extreme weather – until yesterday, when freezing temperatures brought a day of major upheaval.

Damaged power lines on the East Coast Main Line caused cancellations and delays to dozens of services and left many passengers heading for the North-East fretting about their festive plans.

Train operator East Coast advised all passengers not to travel after suspending all its services out of London King’s Cross until 6.30pm, after which a very limited timetable was in operation.

Businessman Ian Dormer, who runs Rosh Engineering, in Birtley, near Chester-le- Street, found himself at the centre of the disruption as he made his way home from London.

The train had been heading towards Peterborough when a “loud crackle” was heard and the service was brought to a standstill, one of four brought to a halt in the incident.

Two hours later, after engineers had established that the power lines were damaged, Mr Dormer and his fellow passengers were escorted along the tracks to awaiting coaches at Huntington station.

Mr Dormer said the vast majority of passengers remained in good spirits throughout the incident, which caused the cancellation of all services on that stretch of the main line.

“One person was quite obnoxious to the staff, but I can’t understand why,” he said.

“They did everything they By Jim Entwistle jim.entwistle@nne.co.uk could to keep us informed, even when they didn’t have anything to report, and came around with biscuits and water.”

Mr Dormer had been due to be skiing in the French Alps, but his trip was cancelled because of the snow. “I think I may be cursed,” he said.

Andrea Buskin, 48, who runs a fish and chip shop with her husband in Stillington, near Easingwold, North Yorkshire, was stranded in London yesterday afternoon.

She said: “We’re getting quite concerned about what we’re going to do. We’ve got animals, a dog and a horse waiting for us – the dog is in a kennel and a friend is looking after the horse.”

Darlington MP Jenny Chapman is due back in the region before the weekend. She said: “I’m sure everyone at East Coast is working as hard as they can to get everyone home. I’m not too worried yet.”

■ Passengers who did not travel yesterday can use their East Coast ticket to travel at the same time today.

East Coast said last night it expects to operate a near normal timetable between London King’s Cross and Scotland today, but advised passengers to check before they set off.

PM ‘frustrated’ as airport delays continue

PRIME Minister David Cameron said yesterday he was “frustrated” by the continued disruption at Heathrow, as the Government offered military support to help clear the snow.

As thousands of air passengers remained stranded, Mr Cameron said: “If it was understandable that Heathrow had to close briefly, I’m frustrated on behalf of all those affected that it’s taking so long for the situation to improve.

“There have been intensive discussions between [Transport Secretary] Philip Hammond and BAA about how best to ensure that normal flying capacity is resumed as soon as possible.

“I can tell you now that snow ploughs are on that second runway as I speak, and the second runway will be open by this evening.”

He added: “The people stuck there are having an incredibly difficult time, especially just a few days from Christmas, and everything must be done to either get them on holiday or get them home safely.”

A spokesman for Heathrow said it will operate about a third of scheduled flights until at least 6am on Thursday.

Passengers were last night urged to check the airport website to see if their flight was listed for departure and then confirm with the airline before setting off.

There were also flight disruptions at Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow, as well as Gatwick, London Luton and London City airports.