A rail track de-icing machine contributed to chaos and misery for passengers when it became stuck on the line during a midnight freeze.

Furious travellers found themselves stranded at a locked station, without the promised replacement bus service.

Edward Winstanley, of Lower Boxley Road, Maidstone, senior case worker for Maidstone and the Weald MP Ann Widdecombe, says rail company Southeastern should compensate all those affected.

He said: “It was a total farce. It was only a few snowflakes.”

Kassy Lomax, 25, from Barming, Maidstone, was one of about 100 stuck at Borough Green station after the 11.09pm Victoria to Canterbury train came to a halt on Wednesday night.

Miss Lomax, who caught the train at Bromley, said the train came to a sudden halt at about midnight as it approached West Malling station. Passengers were told there was ice on the track and two trains and a de-icer stuck ahead on the line.

Miss Lomax said: “Forty minutes passed. Then they said we were being taken back to Borough Green where two buses would be waiting.”

However, when they arrived, the station was locked and there was no bus.

Miss Lomax said: “There was nobody to ask and it was freezing cold. “

Thomas O’Neill, from Penenden Heath, Maidstone, who was on the train with his wife Margaret, said: “They didn’t even open the rest rooms. There were a lot of unhappy and angry people there.”

Miss Lomax, Mr Winstanley and the O’Neills all eventually got taxis home, costing between £40 and £56.

Miss Lomax, who eventually arrived home at 3am, said: “It was disgusting. Luckily I was with two friends. Had I been on my own it would have been really scary.”

A bus eventually turned up at 2.30am.

On Thursday morning Southeastern suspended all mainline services.

A Southeastern spokesman said: “We are really sorry that people had such a difficult, unpleasant and lengthy journey home.”

He explained ice insulated the track and prevented power getting through.

Commuter Jane Field, from West Malling, tried at 7am, 9am and 10am to catch a train to London.

Mrs Field said: “It was bright blue sky, lovely sunshine; I mean, for goodness sake, they can’t even run the trains on a day like that.”