THOUSANDS of rail travellers had journeys of more than four hours to Swindon after major disruption following a fire at London Paddington on Wednesday night.

The station was evacuated at 7.30pm due to the electrical fire, with passengers told to travel to Reading via Waterloo and take a replacement bus service to the town.

Travellers including commuters, Wimbledon spectators and visitors heading to this weekend’s air tattoo at RAF Fairford, arrived back in Swindon close to 1am on Thursday after missing evening services.

The station later reopened with some services departing but the resumption came too late for passengers already advised to travel via Waterloo.

Chaotic scenes had taken place at Paddington as passengers emerged from the Tube to find the barriers closed and only a handful of station staff responding to queries.

Among the cancelled trains was the 8.45pm GWR service to Swindon.

Travellers crammed onto a commuter service from Waterloo which made 15 stops before arriving at Reading.

Among those affected was an American support crew for the F-22 Raptor fighter jet who will display the aircraft at the Royal International Air Tattoo this weekend.

The team arrived back in Swindon on the top deck of a double decker replacement bus before making their way to RAF Fairford, where they are staying during the event.

Around 2,000 people were evacuated from Paddington as London Fire Brigade worked at the scene.

A spokesman for the brigade said firefighters left the scene after the fire in an intake room burnt itself out. Great Western Trains said in a statement on Wednesday night: “Thanks to all our passengers for their continued patience this evening as London Fire Brigade and Network Rail worked to reopen the station.”

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Josh Layton was caught up in the disruption as he travelled home from London on Wednesday night

AS an aviation enthusiast heading to this weekend’s air show at RAF Fairford, I was looking forward to speaking to some of the crews from around the world.

That opportunity came sooner than expected, albeit in markedly different circumstances on the top deck of a double decker bus winding its way somewhat apologetically through darkened country lanes.

I swapped notes on air-to-air refueling, Top Gun and craft ale with the American support team for the F-22 Raptor, my fellow travellers on what felt like a road to nowhere as the clock plodded past midnight. We certainly had time to get acquainted.

The Raptor is a fighter jet that forms part of a Global Strike Task Force and can cruise as supersonic speeds. However on Wednesday night its display team had to make to a distinctly English journey, but the made the most of it as they handed out stickers to us stragglers hoping to get home.

While no one would doubt the need to make the safety and security of passengers a paramount concern, only a handful of hard-pressed staff were available to help irritable passengers at the barriers as the disruption hit the tail end of rush hour. It was the same story at Paddington and Reading.

I had intended to catch the 8.45am from Paddington, but ended being crammed into a commuter service from Waterloo before wandering out at Reading and catching the bus manned by a jovial driver in shorts and T-shirt.

We finally ended up at Swindon a little before 1am.

The general consensus onboard was that there are far worse things going in the world, and it’s curious how such massive disruption broke down barriers between strangers.

My journey may have taken more than four hours, but at least I have an invite to a display booth and a sticker to show for it.