Westoe Travel put in out of hours effort to help travellers left stranded on Sunday due to severe disruption on the East Coast Main Line.
The South Shields-based agency’s Rail Adventures tour operating arm had two large groups affected by the closure with passengers being stranded in London due to the cancellation of services to and from Newcastle.
Overhead lines were damaged between Peterborough and Grantham on Saturday, resulting in travel chaos yesterday, coinciding with Newcastle United fans attending an away match at Tottenham Hotspur,
Westoe assistant manager Alice Appleby led an out of hours team to deal with the cancellations.
Most affected customers were booked into a hotel for an extra night with new seat reservations made for today (Monday).
Those who had to get back on Sunday were found alternate routes or offered coach travel. One group were even combined to hire a car.
Appleby said: “This is a situation we have faced several times in the past and we are ready to deal with it.
“Customers are very stressed at first when they find their trains are cancelled but ever so grateful once we can resolve the problem.”
She added: “It also highlights the importance of booking a package with an operator like Rail Adventures who will be there to assist with options for travel arrangements, give support and provide additional accommodation if needed.”