A CHRISTCHURCH woman's dash to visit a sick relative in a Manchester Hospital turned into a nightmare THIRTEEN hour journey thanks to Storm Doris.

Denise Mitchell was one of dozens of passengers rescued from a train stranded on an isolated stretch of the Rugby to Crewe railway line.

However, the 55-year-old had already spent SEVEN hours just getting to that point, after the storm - which included gales up to 94mph - wrecked havoc for rail passengers throughout their journey north.

Denise, who left Christchurch at 6.40am on Thursday, finally arrived at her sister's Manchester address around 9pm.

She told the Daily Echo: "The problems really started after getting on the Virgin train at London. We kept stopping and starting because of the weather. It was just like the Wizard of Oz, out of the window there were things flying through the air, trees on the track.

"We finally managed to get to Rugby but then an announcement came over saying 'whoever wanted to turn back could get the next train back to London and a full refund.'"

Denise, who was anxious to get to her sick uncle's bedside opted to remain onboard as the train attempted to continue moving northwards.

"We got to the next station, Nuneaton, but had to stop again because of more trees on the track," she said. "After waiting for another hour we headed back to Rugby where the Virgin train was forced to terminate."

Undaunted, Denise and fellow passengers boarded a local service to Crewe - but they'd only been travelling for half an hour when Storm Doris made her presence felt again.

"Basically the storm caused this train to lose all power," said Denise. "It just stopped and everything blacked out. We had to wait another hour for engineers just to get to us. By this time none of the toilets were working and the train had started to smell."

Eventually railway workers brought a rescue train alongside, and the passengers were transferred by climbing down ladders and taken onto Crewe.

Denise was picked up by her nephew at Crewe station and driven the remaining 45-miles to Manchester.

She said: "I was totally shattered after the 13-hour journey, but I cannot fault any of the train staff or police at all. The police helped me off the stranded train, one was holding my hand, the other holding my legs - I thought it was great.

"Hungry children were crying and screaming but other passengers were coming along the carriages handing out crisps, cakes and biscuits, everyone mucked in and helped one another."

The normal journey time from Christchurch to Manchester is around five hours.