A commuter was left traumatised after being trapped inside a train toilet for almost two hours, with firefighters eventually being called in to cut down the door.
Robin Smith experienced the rail journey from hell after a malfunctioning automatic door left her stuck inside the small loo.
The 35-year-old, who is severely claustrophobic, almost fainted twice during the shocking incident.
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Keen athlete Robin was travelling down to take part in a hyrox open ladies event when her day was turned upside down.
Travelling with her long term boyfriend Angus Jones, she got stuck inside the toilet after the electric doors refused to open.
It happened last Saturday (24 Jan) on a £89 CrossCountry rail service from Southampton Central to Manchester Piccadilly.
After Angus was alerted, staff were informed of the problem.
But despite their best efforts, Robin believed neither attendant knew what to do.
The emergency levers located inside and outside the toilet were also broken, with no way of releasing the doors.
According to Robin, who is from Southampton, staff pulled at the door and even retrieved an axe to try and break what they thought was blocking the door.
When pleading for staff to call the fire service, Robin stated that they claimed the train had already been delayed for too long.
After threatening to call them themselves, staff requested assistance.
Firefighters arrived on the scene at Oxford station and set about cutting through the door to create a big enough gap for her to crawl through.
Robin was placed in first class for the remainder of her journey.
“I am severely claustrophobic and on two occasions, I had to lay on the floor as I was concerned I would faint,” Robin told Need To Know.
“While the staff were helpful and trying to do something to release me from the bathroom, it was clear that neither party had any idea what to do.
“No one had control of the situation.
“From inside the toilet, it just sounded like chaos outside.
“The toilets are designed for disabled access and it’s concerning that there are no procedures in place to extract someone in an emergency; or a child; or me if I fainted.”
Robin went on: “I asked the female attendant when it would be appropriate to call the fire service as this was clearly a fire risk.
“She replied that the train had already been delayed by 1.5 hours – as if that took precedence over my safety.
“The firemen worked really quickly.
“They immediately asked if I was OK, for my name, and whether I was happy to give them 10 minutes to see if they could open the door without damage.
“I was content to wait a further 10 minutes as I felt like I was now in safe hands.
“When that time was up, and it was clear the door could not be opened, the firemen immediately took to work and cut an opening in the door. They were excellent.
“My Apple Watch had been going mad because my heart rate was so raised for the entire period I was locked in.
“I am so claustrophobic, it was just immediate relief being able to get out.”
A CrossCountry spokesperson said: “We’re sorry to passengers affected by a technical fault on one of our trains on Saturday.
“While incidents like this are rare, our onboard colleagues are trained to deal with them safely and worked closely with station staff and emergency services to resolve the situation.
“All passengers were able to continue their journeys, including the customer directly involved, who travelled on our next northbound service from Oxford.”
A spokesperson for Oxfordshire County Council said: “Oxfordshire County Council’s fire and rescue service sent a fire engine from its Rewley Road fire station, in Oxford, to Oxford railway station.
“Crews used hydraulic cutting gear, a reciprocal saw, to release a person trapped in a train toilet, on platform 3.”
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