Severe delays hit London Underground line due to staff shortage

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All railway lines have been blocked between West Ruislip and High Wycombe after a trespasser on tracks.

This means trains could be delayed by up to 45 minutes, with disruption expected until 11pm.

Here is the affected service.

• Trains between London Marylebone and High Wycombe / Oxford / Banbury / Stratford-upon-Avon / Birmingham Snow Hill

Passengers can your their tickets on Avanti West Coast trains between Birmingham New Street, Milton Keynes Central and London Euston.

Along with severe delays on the Tube line, it has been partially suspended after an emergency incident.

There is no service westbound between Leytonstone and White City due to the incident.

The rest of the line has severe delays, TfL says.

If you’re taking a late evening train to New Southgate, north London, brace for changes to the route.

A problem with the station lighting means cannot stop at New Southgate, National Rail said.

The issue is expected to be resolved by 11pm.

It is affecting Great Northern trains between London King’s Cross, Moorgate and Welwyn Garden City.

The London Underground has coped well this rush hour, but now Central line is experiencing severe delays in east London.

It has severe delays between Leytonstone and Hainault via Newbury Park due to the unavailability of control room staff, a TfL status update shows.

The rest of the Tube line has minor delays.

Drivers should prepare for slow traffic and queues on the M25 in Essex.

One traffic hotspot is between J28 and J27 anticlockwise after a crash which has closed one lane.

Traffic appears to be moving although at a slow speed.

Normal traffic conditions are expected by 8.30pm, National Highways incident alert says.

Elsewhere on the M25, queues are also forming between J24 and J26 in both directions due to congestion.

Traffic is also struggling with the rush hour volume in Surrey between junctions J12 and J10.

It could be an eventful rush hour for passengers travelling between Paddington, Heathrow and Reading after lines have been blocked.

A power supply has failed in the Paddington area, meaning trains are unable to run on some lines.

Elizabeth line, Heathrow Express and Great Western Railway services could be cancelled, delayed or revised, National Rail said.

The disruption is expected to last until 5.30pm, but this could be revised until later.

The disruption caused by the earlier derailed tram at Cornbrook station is not expected to be solved anytime soon.

Transport for Greater Manchester said: ‘This disruption is expected to continue until the late evening, and will affect journeys home after work.’

In June, a BA flight at Gatwick had been grounded, causing 16 diversions. One impacted flight was jetting out of Malaga and bound for Gatwick, but instead landed in Heathrow.

Three people left the plane – including Boris Johnson’s father, Stanley – after the pilot asked if anyone wanted to disembark. The roughly 200 riders remaining landed in Gatwick about three hours later.

Now BA has confirmed the airline won’t compensate passengers for the inconvenience.

‘The plan was to refuel, and the aircraft was given a slot to fly to Gatwick,’ passenger Richard Davenport told the Independent of the June 28 flight.

‘However, as Stanley Johnson decided he wanted to get off – along with another passenger – we subsequently missed the slot.’

He added: ‘With a car parked at Gatwick, we didn’t have to option to just leave at Heathrow. It left 99.5 per cent of passengers with a bitter taste.’

BA told customers that they were refused compensation as they ‘reached their destination within three hours’.

The Bee Network has issued a fresh update – and it’s not the best.

Two different issues impacting the tram network mean disruption will go well into this evening.

‘Due to a tram derailment at Cornbrook, multiple lines are experiencing disruptions and delays,’ the update says.

‘Additionally, we are currently experiencing a communications fault on the Altrincham line which is impacting services.

‘This disruption is expected to continue until the early evening and will affect journeys home after work this evening.

‘Services are currently operating as follows:

• Altrincham – Old Trafford
• Ashton – Crumpsall
• Bury – Etihad
• East Didsbury – Firswood
• Eccles – MediaCityUK
• Manchester Airport – Firswood
• Rochdale – Piccadilly
• Trafford Centre – Wharfside.’

A power cable fault sparked traffic chaos along the M6, the longest motorway in the UK.

Police were forced to close junctions 17 and 18 when the cable fell ‘adjacent to the M6’.

Both have since been reopened – but that doesn’t mean driver’s headaches are going anytime soon.

Motorists are facing delays of about 20 minutes on the M6 northbound and southbound between junctions J15 and J16, National Highways says.

Traffic has come to a standstill as far down as J16 and as north as J19. The paralysis is having a knock-off effect on the A50, A54 and A500.

A road traffic collision on the M25 has caused further congestion clockwise between junctions J21A and J22.

Normal traffic conditions aren’t expected to return until 1pm, though traffic cameras show logjams stretching far along the motorway.

A multi-vehicle collision involving a lorry and two cars paralysed the A2 near the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent earlier this morning.

One person was treated at the scene and taken to hospital.

The A2 coastbound was closed after the 7am incident, causing rush hour delays of up to 30 minutes.

But highway officials are no longer reporting any delays.

National Highways says a road traffic collision has caused ‘severe’ congestion clockwise between junctions J24 and J25.

The traffic should let up by 1.45pm, with delays of about 10 minutes to journeys expected.

Congestion piled up to three miles long earlier.

TfL is reporting minor delays on the entire Jubilee line ‘due to a track obstruction’.

A TfGM spokesperson told Metro.co.uk just now: ‘At 08.00am today we received reports of a derailed tram leaving Cornbrook. The derailment is currently causing disruption across the Metrolink network with no services between Old Trafford, Firswood, Wharfside, Media City and City Centre.

‘Ticket acceptance is in place on selected bus services between Eccles, East Didsbury, Manchester Airport, Altrincham, Trafford Centre, Rochdale and Bury.

‘The re-railing work will take several hours, so disruption is likely to last into the afternoon peak.’

Commutes can already be a tad soul-crushing – so riders weren’t really in the mood for their tram being derailed this morning.

Photographs posted by commuters on social media show people disembarking from the tram onto the tracks.

‘Boy do I wish I worked from home,’ said Ryan Sidle, a writer.

A MEN reporter at the scene said maintenance workers told commuters lingering at the platform to ‘not bother waiting’.

‘Nothing will be moving here for at least an hour, if not the whole morning,’

The Bee Network has issued a travel alert for ‘severe disruption’ after a tram derailed at about 8am.

‘Due to a tram derailment at Cornbrook, multiple lines are experiencing disruptions and delays.

‘Additionally, we are currently experiencing a communications fault on the Altrincham line which is impacting services.

‘We expect that it will take several hours for this issue to be resolved, so please continue to check this webpage or our twitter/X feed for the latest updates.

‘Services are currently operating as follows:

• Eccles – MediaCityUK
• East Didsbury – Firswood
• Manchester Airport – Firswood
• Altrincham – Old Trafford
• Trafford Centre – Wharfside
• Rochdale – Piccadilly
• Bury – Etihad

‘We are currently working hard to resolve this issue as soon as possible.

‘To complete your journey, please see the information below on how to use you tram ticket on local bus services in the affected area.’

A small stretch of the London Overground was suspended this morning due to a signalling system daily at New Cross Gate.

Engineers have since fixed the issue but ‘trains running between New Cross Gate and Crystal Palace/West Croydon may still be cancelled whilst service recovers’, National Rail says.

Normal service should resume by 10.30am.