TRAIN operator First Capital Connect (FCC) has apologised after leaving 100 Stevenage passengers at Hitchin last night (Thursday). The 16.18 from King s Cross to Royston was scheduled to stop at Stevenage but sped through before coming to a halt over 500

TRAIN operator First Capital Connect (FCC) has apologised after leaving 100 Stevenage passengers at Hitchin last night (Thursday).

The 16.18 from King's Cross to Royston was scheduled to stop at Stevenage but sped through before coming to a halt over 500 yards from the platform after the driver realised his mistake.

He informed passengers of his error over the public address system and said he would reverse back to the station, but instead went on to Hitchin where the Stevenage passengers had to get off and get another train back to their destination.

Leslie Knezevich of Chalkdown, Stevenage, who was travelling back from his job as a primary school teacher in London, said: “We left King’s Cross at 4.18 and were due to get into Stevenage at about 4.40. It was the first scheduled stop.

“We were amazed when the train failed to stop at Stevenage. It stopped quickly about 500-1,000 metres past the station.

“The driver then apologised and said he was going to attempt to reverse back into the station.

“Instead we went on to Hitchin. There were about 60 to 80 people and we had a 10-15 minute wait for a train back to Stevenage.

“It’s incredible he could miss a major stop like that and then to say he was going to reverse back down the line.

A spokesman for First Capital connect said: “We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. The driver could not reverse back to Stevenage because there was too much traffic on the line. Incidents like this are incredibly rare and a full investigation is underway. There were no safety implications as a result of this.”