Family stranded for hours at lime street 'saved' by kind stranger

KATH JONES AND HER FAMILY WAITED FOR HOURS IN THE RAIN OUTSIDE LIME STREET STATION 17:19, 27 May 2025Updated 17:45, 27 May 2025 A family who found themselves stranded in Liverpool city

centre following travel chaos at Lime Street station were given a lift by a kind stranger. Reds fan Kath Jones, her husband Chris and daughter Laura were among thousands of people shut out

of the station last night following the Liverpool FC victory parade. People queued for hours in the pouring rain outside the station as doors were shuttered. It came after the Liverpool FC

title parade and subsequent incident on Water Street when a car was driven into the celebrating crowd, injuring dozens. Kath said: "When we got to Lime Street Station it was just before

6pm. There were hundreds and hundreds of people outside, thousands probably, and we just weren't getting any information at all. Everywhere was gridlocked and we didn't know what

had happened. "We thought we could get an Uber and walked back to the Albert Dock, but there was still a massive clear-up. We walked to the Anglican Cathedral, but it was just

gridlocked. We went back to the station, and there was still nothing. By this time it was 11pm and we were very cold and very wet." While attempting to get travel information from a

steward, Kath, 50, said she was approached by a passer-by who offered to drive her and her family to Warrington train station, where they were able to catch an Uber back home to Saddleworth.

She said: "I wanted to say how grateful we were, because he really saved our bacon. I kick myself I didn't get his name but I think I was in shock after standing outside the

station for hours and hours. If it wasn't for him, I think we expected to spend the night on the streets. "We felt relieved. We really thought we were going to spend the night

either in a queue or on the street." She added: "You can appreciate there were thousands of people, but there was a lack of information. Nobody was giving any information at all.

The frustrating thing was nobody was showing their face; people were queuing up but the doors were closed. "You appreciate it's a massive event. People were coming in droves and

just had nowhere to go and no information. If somebody could have just explained what was going on, it would have helped. "I think it was basically they couldn't deal with the

number of people that suddenly descended on the station. When we left at 11pm nobody was getting in the station. It was queued up by the theatre, up past the Liner Hotel." Issuing a

statement to the ECHO, a spokesperson for Network Rail apologised to people trying to get home, citing "unprecedented number of visitors to the city". A Network Rail spokesperson

said: “Yesterday, the tragic incident at Water Street marred what should have been a joyful occasion for the people of Liverpool. "We work closely with our train operating partners and

other organisations across the city to plan for events such as this; however, on the day, an unprecedented number of visitors came to the city. “Our priority is always to ensure the safety

of the passengers at our stations, and our staff worked hard to achieve this under difficult circumstances. "We are sorry that people were delayed in getting to where they needed to be

during a distressing time. Our sympathies are with the people affected by the event.” When pressed on the reason behind the issues at the station, mainly the entrances being closed and

shutters pulled down, Network Rail declined to go into detail about what happened. Article continues below The ECHO visited the station twice throughout the night, once at 6pm where hundreds

were queuing down the steps of the station, and again at around 9pm where hundreds remained standing in the rain.