Train bosses have been accused of “inadequate management” in a new report on the infamous incident when train passengers stranded in bad weather walked along the tracks in Lewisham.

The new report, from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB), says some of the passengers who walked along potentially live lines could have been electrocuted.

A passenger left a Southeastern train and went on the track after the train had been held at a signal for an hour on March 2 last year.

The train had been stuck behind another train which was unable to move because of ice, which led to a build-up of seven trains.

Passengers were becoming “Increasingly frustrated and uncomfortable” with no toilet facilities, with reports one person used a cup as a toilet.

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Passengers got off of at least two other trains and began walking along the tracks.

Southeastern cut the power to the tracks, which was not reinstated for another four-and-a-half hours, the report explains.

More than 30 passengers left the trains.

The RAIB described poor planning processes and “inadequate management of the disruption caused by the adverse weather”.

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It called on Network Rail and Southeastern to review winter arrangements, decision-making and communication processes, and train staff.

The rail operator should also consider improving facilities on its trains when they are stranded, such as toilet, heating, ventilation, passenger information, food and drink, according to the report.

RMT union general secretary Mick Cash said: “This a shocking report and it is only pure luck that no one was killed or seriously injured at Lewisham last March. Safety on our railways must never be left to chance.

“If there had been a second safety critical worker on the train they could have been the means of providing effective communication between the control and the train and best placed to pass this information on to the passengers.”

The report mentioned stranding incidents in 2011 at Dock Junction and in 2017 at Peckham Rye Station where passengers left the train, including one incident where passengers climbed down steps very close to a live rail.