THOUSANDS of rail passengers faced delays of up to five hours last night after a breakdown near Burgess Hill.

Passengers were left fuming at what Thameslink described as "one of the worst incidents we have ever had". Today a major investigation was launched by Thameslink, Connex South Central and Railtrack. The commuter chaos began when Thameslink's 13.28 Bedford to Brighton service broke down between Burgess Hill and Hassocks. The cause is unknown but is thought to have been an electrical fault. The Thameslink 13.56 Luton to Brighton train behind it tried to shunt the broken-down train into sidings, causing the power on the line to fail. Two other trains, the Thameslink 13.58 service from Bedford to Brighton and the 14.32 Connex South Central London Victoria to Brighton, were left stranded between Wivelsfield and Burgess Hill. The London Victoria to Brighton train was eventually diverted via Lewes and arrived at Brighton 20 minutes late. It is estimated that about 500 passengers were stranded on the four trains. Thousands of other train-users suffered lengthy delays because of the knock-on effect of the breakdown. The 19.39 Connex train from Brighton was two hours late arriving at Kings Cross. Commuter Sue Young, of Surrenden Road, Brighton, took five hours getting to her Surrenden Road, Brighton, home from London - a journey which normally takes an hour. She was on the stranded 13.58 Bedford to Brighton train. She said at Burgess Hill station: "I am hopping mad. The train should have got into Brighton at 4.10pm. It is now shortly before 8.30pm and I am stuck waiting in Uncle Sams in Burgess Hill. "At 4.15pm, they said there was a broken-down train in front and there was a problem taking us further down the track. "We were sitting between Wivelsfield and Burgess Hill until 7.30pm, when I finally had had enough and complained to the guard. "He went to the driver and requested that the train be taken into Burgess Hill station. "During that time there were two or three announcements saying they did not know what was going on. "Every time they tried to start the other train, it blew the power on the tracks." She said the train was eventually taken into Burgess Hill station at shortly before 8pm. Atrain eventually picked up the stranded passengers at Burgess Hill at 8.30pm to take them on to Brighton. Euan Cameron, Thameslink managing director, said: "We are very concerned about this incident and the severe inconvenience caused."

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