By James Wynn
Storm Ciara wreaked havoc throughout Leicester on Sunday (February 9), with train cancellations causing many visitors to the city to be stranded.
Most trains out of Leicester were cancelled, with the few remaining services being heavily delayed.
Trains were limited to 50mph speeds, meaning most services took four times as long to reach their destinations.
Two visitors to the city, James White and Jake Bullock, were both stranded when the storm ruined their travel plans.
“We came here for a football match and a night out on Saturday, but now it’s looking like we’re stuck here until tomorrow at the earliest,” White, 21, said.
“I’ll end up having to book a days’ holiday at work for something that I can’t really control.”
The trains were cancelled for safety reasons, with the storm causing high winds and heavy rain, which led to some sympathy from the pair.
“Obviously the train companies can’t do anything and it’s not really their fault, but if they’d have invested in infrastructure this kind of thing wouldn’t cause such a mess,” Bullock added.
“Many other countries have the facilities in place to cope with extreme weather conditions and make sure people can still reach their destinations.
“But, you don’t want people getting injured because the wind is derailing trains, so it’s understandable.”
It is expected that Storm Ciara will pass in the next 48 hours, meaning that rail services out of and to Leicester will return to normal by the middle of the week with some delays still expected.
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