Passengers blasted Stansted Airport’s ‘shambles’ of a response to ‘ongoing issues’, which left people stranded for hours without water or toilet access.
The London airport confirmed to Metro that, due to a technical issue, its track transit people mover system was unavailable.
While a coaching contingency service was implemented, demand has remained high during the ‘busy period’.
Travellers were warned that their journeys could ‘take longer than would normally be expected’.
A spokesperson added that engineers have been ‘working hard to restore the service as soon as possible’ as the outage continued into the night.
‘Engineers are working hard to restore the service as soon as possible, while additional staff have been deployed to help keep passengers informed and assist managing queues,’ they said.
Absolute shambles at @STN_Airport . The shuttle from plane to terminals conked out this morning and there is no contingency other than a bus which cant cope with the ever-growing backlog. We have spent longer in this queue than the flight. No water, no toilets no updates. pic.twitter.com/Nae4vRSs7M
— GregTheGuide (@GroundhopperGr1) October 23, 2026
‘We apologise to passengers for any inconvenience and disruption this issue may have caused to their journeys through the airport.’
Taking to social media, the likes of @GroundhopperGr1 shared snaps of the chaos, with a crowd of arrivals stuck in a queue.
He wrote: ‘Absolute shambles at @STN_Airport. The shuttle from plane to terminals conked out this morning and there is no contingency other than a bus which cant cope with the ever-growing backlog. We have spent longer in this queue than the flight. No water, no toilets no updates.’
Also today, Storm Austen disrupted the train lines between Broxbourne and Stansted Airport, with a ‘do not travel’ warning given.
Earlier this evening, Greater Anglia said a tree had fallen onto the tracks near Stansted Mountfitchet in Essex, impacting the wires overhead.
Network Rail response teams were sent to investigate the issue while services were either cancelled, delayed, or revised.
Blocked lines soon began affecting Greater Anglia services between London Liverpool Street and Cambridge North, Hertford East, Ely, and Bishop’s Stortford.
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