Fire near railway track into Paddington Station causes Monday morning rush hour chaos
Fire near railway track into Paddington Station causes Monday morning rush hour chaos for commuters on Great Western Railway and Heathrow Express
Passengers suffered severe delays and were stuck on the trains for up to an hourFiremen from London Fire Brigade fought flames between Acton and PaddingtonTravellers fumed online that the delays were making them late for work or school
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Commuters today faced rush hour chaos after a fire next to the tracks getting into central London.
Passengers suffered severe delays and were stuck on trains for up to an hour as firefighters battled the blaze between Acton and Paddington.
Great Western Railway, Heathrow Express, and Transport for London rail between Paddington, Reading, Hayes & Harlington, Maidenhead, and Heathrow were hit.
Travellers fumed on social media the delays were making them late for work and their children were missing school – before the line reopened around 8.30am.
It comes nearly a week after a huge blaze at nearby Acton Town tube station saw the Piccadilly line shut down.
Commuters today faced rush hour chaos after a fire next to the tracks getting into central London (pictured)
Passengers suffered severe delays and were stuck on trains for up to an hour as firefighters battled the blaze between Acton and Paddington. Pictured: A GWR train this morning
Services running between Acton Main and London Paddington were halted after the fire was found at 6.41am.
Firefighters rushed to the blaze near Canal Way, North Kensington, and found some trackside switch equipment and cabling were damaged.
London Fire Brigade reported no injuries and said the flames were under control by 7.40am.
But commuters were livid with the hour-long delays and said it had made them late for work and meant their children would miss lessons.
Raakesh Savji Parmar tweeted: ‘Guys @TfL @networkrail what is going on? Been stuck on a train for 40 mins due to power outage. Last week 2 incidents too. Need a time on the resolution pls.’
Jonny Bailey put: ‘You know it’s a good start to the week when all the trains from Paddington are cancelled…’
Julia Carrick said: ‘@GWRHelp why has the cnm-pad train not left gcr yet? People have work and school on the route too.’
Katrina posted: ‘When you wake up at 6am to get to the gym before work, everything’s packed and ready to go… only to find out theirs a fire at Paddington station and theirs no trains running.
‘Back home I go! (With my overnight oats in tow).’ Another customer said: ‘Any idea what caused the fire. Disruption has caused my son to miss school.’
A man wrote: ‘@TfL hello, are you going to post a useful service update to do with this incident as it also affects TfL rail? Thanks.’
Another said online: ‘@GWRHelp hi there been waiting since 0639am at Paddington. Any update on this fire or when the trains are moving?! No update from station staff at all.’
National Rail said: ‘A fire next to the track between Acton Main Line and London Paddington is causing major disruption to trains running between these stations.
‘Trains to / from London Paddington may be cancelled, delayed by up to 50 minutes or revised.’
Great Western Railway said: ‘Due to a fire next to the track between Reading and London Paddington all lines are closed Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is expected until 09:00.’
It later added: ‘Following a fire next to the track between London Paddington and Heathrow Terminal 5, all lines will be reopened shortly.
‘Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised. Disruption is still expected until 09:00.’
A spokesman for London Fire Brigade said: ‘We were called at 0641 to reports of a trackside fire at railway line near Canal Way, North Kensington.
‘Some trackside switch equipment and trackside cabling were damaged by fire. There were no reports of any injuries.
‘We sent one fire engine from North Kensington Station. The fire was under control by 0740.’
Last week flames and smoke were seen billowing out of a building above Acton Town tube station.
Around ten fire engines and 70 firefighters rushed to the blaze on Bollo Lane, next to the station.
Transport for London was also forced to part suspend the District and Piccadilly lines that run through the route.
