Saturday, November 16, 2024

London travel news LIVE: Elizabeth Line chaos after power failure hits central section

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The Elizabeth Line is severely delayed after a “power supply failure” during rush hour, TfL has said.

There are severe delays on the whole line, with National Rail warning of severe disruption through Tuesday morning until 1.30pm.

It came after motorists were hit with severe delays through central London on Tuesday morning after Tower Bridge was left stuck open due to “technical problems”.

The fault on the world-famous bridge caused the river crossing to be blocked, causing severe congestion in the area through to Limehouse and Aldgate.

The bridge was left stuck open after a 6am lift for a cruise ship, according to traffic monitoring sites, and closed again around 7.30am.

Separately, a broken rail in the Finsbury Park area is disrupting morning rush-hour trains into London.

National Rail is warning that services between Stevenage and London Kings Cross/Moorgate may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes.

Thameslink, Lumo and LNER are among the operators affected by the problem.

The disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Follow the latest updates below…

Elizabeth Line disruption expected until 1.30pm

12:29 , Josh Salisbury

Elizabeth Line disruption is now expected until 1.30pm, National Rail has said.

Delays on Metropolitan Line

12:10 , Josh Salisbury

The Metropolitan Line has minor delays between Aldgate and Baker Street, TfL has said.

This is due to an earlier faulty train at Rayners Lane.

Finsbury Park rail issue hits services out of London

11:49 , Josh Salisbury

A broken rail in the Finsbury Park area is continuing to disrupt trains between Stevenage and London Kings Cross/Moorgate.

Network Rail warns these services may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes.

Thameslink, Lumo and LNER are among the operators affected by the problem.

Elizabeth Line chaos to last until 1pm

11:27 , Josh Salisbury

Severe disruption on the Elizabeth Line is now expected to last until 1pm.

All lines have now reopened after an earlier failure of the electricity supply between Abbey Wood and London Paddington.

But passengers are being warned that trains running between these stations may continue to be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised.

TfL says there are severe delays across the entire line.

Service resumes on Elizabeth Line but severe delays remain

10:14 , Josh Salisbury

Service has resumed on the Elizabeth Line after a power fault, but severe delays remain.

Trains running on the line may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes.

Disruption is expected to continue until 12noon.

Severe delays on Elizabeth Line all morning

10:04 , Josh Salisbury

Commuters should expect severe delays on the Elizabeth Line all morning after a power supply failure, National Rail has said.

The line is currently part-suspended between Paddington and Abbey Wood, meaning its busiest stations are not being served.

There are severe delays on the rest of the line.

The disruption is expected to last until at least 12noon.

No service on Elizabeth Line between Paddington and Abbey Wood

09:20 , Josh Salisbury

There is currently no service between Paddington and Abbey Wood due to a power supply failure, said TfL.

Further details were not immediately given.

Elizabeth Line trains hit by delays over Stratford fault

09:09 , Josh Salisbury

Disruption on the Elizabeth Line because of a broken down train at Stratford is expected throughout Tuesday morning, National Rail said.

Delays have been reported between Shenfield and London Paddington / Heathrow Terminal 5, and also between Gidea Park and London Liverpool Street.

All lines have now reopened but trains running between Stratford and Whitechapel may continue to be delayed by up to 25 minutes or revised.

Waterloo trains to Southampton and Portsmouth disrupted

08:25 , Josh Salisbury

South Western Railway trains between Waterloo and Southampton and Portsmouth have been severely disrupted because of a rail fault.

National Rail said the issue meant services between Portsmouth and London Waterloo will be diverted via Eastleigh until further notice.

As a result, trains between Havant and Haslemere will be cancelled, delayed by up to 40 minutes or revised.

Major disruption is expected until 12pm.

South Western Railway (South Western Railway)

South Western Railway (South Western Railway)

Delays on Elizabeth and Metropolitan Lines

08:02 , Josh Salisbury

Away from London’s road network, there are minor delays on the Elizabeth and Metropolitan Lines this morning.

The Elizabeth Line has minor delays between Whitechapel and Shenfield due to an earlier faulty train at Stratford.

There are also delays between Maidenhead and Reading due to a signal failure in the Twyford area.

Meanwhile, there are minor delays between Baker Street and Uxbridge on the Metropolitan due to an earlier faulty train at Rayners Lane.

Severe delays continue after Tower Bridge left stuck open

07:50 , Josh Salisbury

Severe delays are continuing in the area of Tower Bridge after it was left stuck open for an hour-and-a-half on Tuesday morning.

It had forced the bridge to close both ways between Tower Hill and Queen Elizabeth Street.

There remains congestion to Limehouse back along The Highway, and Aldgate back through the one-way system.

Northbound queues are also reported from the A2 Bricklayers Arms, with diversions towards Borough for London Bridge.

The bridge's bascules were left stuck open shortly after 6am (James Herron)The bridge's bascules were left stuck open shortly after 6am (James Herron)

The bridge’s bascules were left stuck open shortly after 6am (James Herron)

Tower Bridge left stuck open after 6am cruise ship lift

07:38 , Josh Salisbury

Tower Bridge was left stuck open on Tuesday morning after a faulty lift for a cruise ship, causing traffic chaos.

The bridge was left stuck open for around an hour due to “technical problems”, forcing the road to close between Tower Hill and Queen Elizabeth Street.

The fault caused severe delays in the area, with congestion building up in Limehouse and Aldgate.

The bridge appeared to have closed by 7.30am, but delays remained.

More rail disruption

06:58 , Michael Howie

National Rail has warned a problem with an engineering train has blocked some lined between London Blackfriars and London St Pancras International.

In a report issued at 6.22am, it said trains running between these stations may be delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised as a result.

The disruption was expected to continue until 8am.

Broken rail causing issues

06:56

A broken rail in the Finsbury Park area means that trains have to run at reduced speed on all lines.

As a result, trains between Stevenage and London Kings Cross/Moorgate may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes., according to National Rail.

Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Passengers on Great Northern and Thameslink trains are being warned that journeys between Moorgate and Hertford North may take up to 30 minutes longer than usual.

Trains may be cancelled from Peterborough towards London King’s Cross and between Moorgate and Gordon Hill/Hertford North.

Good morning

06:52 , Michael Howie

Welcome to the Standard’s coverage of travel news on Tuesday.

We’ll bring you the major developments as thousands of commuters head into London this morning rush-hour.

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