News | London
Multiple Tube lines have been suspended as a power cut caused travel chaos on Monday afternoon.
The Northern line, Jubilee line, Bakerloo line and the central section of the Elizabeth line between Paddington and Abbey Wood were all affected by a power cut at around 2.30pm in south-west London.
Transport for London explained that the travel chaos was caused by an outage, which meant “everything shut down” for “a matter of minutes”.
The disruption came after a cable fault which led to a fire at an electrical substation in Maida Vale, a London Fire Brigade (LFB) spokesperson said.
Firefighters were called to the substation and three metres of high voltage cabling were destroyed, it is understood.
It comes weeks after a fire at the same substation, which saw elderly and vulnerable residents among those moved out of their homes.
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The Standard’s live coverage of the power cut across the Tube has ended.
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The London Fire Brigade has shared pictures of damaged cables following a fire at a substation in Maida Vale earlier on Monday.
High-voltage cabling connected to the substation caught fire, the London Fire Brigade said.
The incident is believed to have led to caused a power outage that paralysed parts of the Tube network.
The National Grid said a “consequent voltage dip” may have briefly affected power supplies.
The Bakerloo line has now reopened following the earlier power outage, TfL has said.
No Tube lines are suspended, but there are severe delays on the District and Jubilee lines and minor delays on the Victoria line, according to TfL’s latest service update.
The Mildmay Oveground line remains part suspended between South Acton and Richmond – whichTfL says is due to a fire alert at Gunnersbury.
There is a good service on all other lines.
Over four hours after the power outage, there is still severe disruption on many London Overground and Underground lines.
This is the latest from Tfl’s website. All other lines are said to have a good service.
The power outage across the Tube network came after a cable fault, which led to a fire at an electrical substation in the Cunningham Place and Aberdeen Place area in Maida Vale, a London Fire Brigade (LFB) spokesperson said.
Firefighters were called to the substation and three metres of high voltage cabling were destroyed, it is understood.
It comes weeks after a fire at the same substation, which saw elderly and vulnerable residents among those moved out of their homes.
However, Monday’s fire is understood to have involved different equipment to the blaze on April 29.
A major trade union has said that the loss of power on the Tube is “deeply troubling” and called for an inquiry into what happened.
Responding to the power cut, TSSA General Secretary, Maryam Eslamdoust said: “The loss of power on such a scale is deeply troubling and hugely inconvenient for many people across London’s Tube and other networks.
“Safety for all is key at this moment, but in due course we will need a proper inquiry into what happened and the lessons to be learned.”
National Grid said there was a “fault” on its transmission network in central London.
A spokesperson said: “We apologise for any inconvenience following a fault on our transmission network in central London this afternoon.
“The fault was resolved within seconds and did not interrupt supply from our network, but a consequent voltage dip may have briefly affected power supplies on the low voltage distribution network in the area.
“We once again apologise for any inconvenience and ongoing travel disruption.”
Transport for London and the National Grid are currently working to find out the cause of the power outage on Monday afternoon.
The transport body explained that a “brief interrution” to its power supply caused several lines to loes power.
In a statement, Claire Mann, TfL’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “Due to a brief interruption of the power supply to our network, several lines lost power for a short period earlier this afternoon.
“We apologise to customers whose journeys will have been affected. We are working to get the whole network up and running again as quickly as possible.”
Here is the current state of play:
Looking to enjoy a nice walk home in the sun? Think again.
What has been a beautifully warm day in the capital has quickly turned sour with a downpour of rain.
The torrential downpour isn’t expected to last long, but thunderstorms are predicted.
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