Commuters in Kingston were left standing in the cold during a traffic jam after their bus driver told them to leave the vehicle this morning (January 21).

Coombe Lane in Kingston suffered from delays Tuesday morning after engineering works in the area led to a build up of rush hour traffic.

Caught up in the traffic was a Route 57 bus on its way through Kingston, which was reportedly "terminated" mid-service due to the road being blocked up ahead.

Saima Khan, who works in the NHS at Kingston Hospital, was one of numerous commuters on the bus who was asked to leave by the driver when that happened.

"I took the bus at 8.30am, travelling to Kingston Hospital," Khan told the Comet.

"We were on the bus for a while and were stuck on Coombe Lane.

"He told us the bus was getting terminated because the road was blocked.

"He said 'we can't provide the service' and then told all passengers to get out on this wintry morning," she added.

Speaking from the side of the road, Khan went on to describe how she and the other passengers were left at the side of the road in the cold after they were told to leave the bus.

"We were on the streets for at least an hour and I'm late for work. It's almost 10am and I'm supposed to be there for 9am.

Did the driver recommend alternative ways of completing their journey?

"Nothing. No suggestions. It was just 'get out from the bus'. That's all," she said.

Responding to a request for comment, Transport for London (TfL) confirmed the delays that impacted the 57 Route Tuesday morning.

"TfL was made aware of some delays to routes in the Kingston area: affecting the route 57.

"We amended traffic signal timings to assist with the delays.

"There were some Thames Water sewer repair works in Kingston Town Centre (specifically Kingsgate Road), which started on Friday afternoon and are expected to run until Thursday evening.

"This is what likely caused the delays experienced on the 57, alongside emergency water works on Fairfield North, with two of three lanes closed," a spokesperson said.

Asked about what happened to Khan and her fellow passengers, the spokesperson said that passengers could remain on the bus and suggested a error in communication might have been behind the incident.

"In regards to customers being told to get off to complete their journey, when bus services are impacted by heavy traffic, customers are still able to remain on the bus until the traffic clears, or a diversion is formed.

"The bus driver may advise passengers if there is due to be a very long wait that they may find it quicker to continue their journey by foot.

"We are sorry if this was not made clear this morning," TfL said.

Frustrated by being left to wait in the cold, Khan described her anger at what happened.

"I want to speak to Sadiq Khan, Boris Johnson or whoever it is because they shouldn't ask for our votes if they can't manage the traffic," she said.

"It's not central London, it's on the outskirts. The traffic should be better here."