Friday, December 8, 2023
Travellers suffered significant delays due to travel chaos in West London.
Hundreds of passengers have been stuck on cold, dark trains in west London for hours.
This happened due to damaged overhead electric cables. All trains came to a standstill between London Paddington and Reading, Network Rail Western confirmed.
Great Western Railway said disruption may continue on the London Paddington to Reading line until the end of Thursday. The disruption also affects the Elizabeth line.
Heathrow said there were no Heathrow Express or Elizabeth Line services to or from the airport.
Network Rail said in a statement that they had to stop all services. Their engineers work as fast as they can to fix the issue.
Their teams are also working with train operators to assist people on the trains affected.
Anyone planning to travel that night should check National Rail Enquiries for the latest on the disruption.
If someone is on an affected train, they should stay where they are until the emergency services or railway workers give them further instructions.
If they are attempting to travel, they can use alternative routes via National Rail Enquiries.
Network Rail added that the problem took place as a train struck an obstruction between Paddington and Acton mainline. It caused damage to the overhead wires.
The post said that hundreds of freezing passengers have been trapped for over two hours on Elizabeth Line trains in the Paddington area of west London after a power failure.
Some passengers are forcing doors open to exit the trains [and] using their phones as torches.
Another user on the social media said she had spent “nearly three hours” just outside Paddington.
By 10.30pm, some people were able to disembark from the stranded trains.
Rachel Riley, the Countdown presenter, posted on a social media that nearly 4 hours after they got on, they’re getting off the Elizabeth line.
The transport secretary, Mark Harper, said on a social media: “Aware of a serious incident involving overhead wires outside Paddington, with a number of trains stationary on the tracks.”
Chiltern Railways and South Western Railway were accepting tickets on parts of their networks.
Customers were also told they could use their tickets on London Underground “via any reasonable route” and parts of the London bus network.
Thameslink, Southeastern and the Docklands Light Railway will also accept the tickets on some journeys.
National Rail added on social media that Elizabeth line passengers west of West Drayton could also book a taxi and reclaim the fare at a later date via the TfL website.
Tags: travel chaos, West London
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