Radlett cable failure causes major rail delays

  • Published
Damage to near Radlett Station in Hertfordshire
Image caption,
The overhead cables came down near Radlett station in Hertfordshire

Thousands of commuters using train services to and from London are facing major delays after overhead cables came down in Hertfordshire.

The problems at Radlett in Hertfordshire led to major changes to services run by three train companies - Southeastern, East Midlands Trains and First Capital Connect (FCC).

The electric cable failed just after 11:00 GMT.

Passengers on five trains near Radlett station, had to be evacuated.

One, Simon Lane, from Hertfordshire, said: "About 1km of power lines came down. Trains were evacuated and passengers had to walk along the tracks in freezing conditions."

'No easy fix'

With passengers being warned to expect disruption for the rest of the day, trains were unable to run between St Pancras station in London and Luton in Bedfordshire.

Trains were also unable to run between Kentish Town and Denmark Hill in London with services being diverted via London's Victoria station.

On FCC services, trains from Sutton and Sevenoaks were starting and finishing at Victoria or Blackfriars station in London.

A limited FCC service was running between Bedford and Luton, while buses replaced trains between Luton Airport Parkway and Elstree and Borehamwood station in Hertfordshire.

On East Midlands' services, buses replaced trains between Wellingborough and Northampton to connect with London Midland services between Northampton and Euston station in London.

No East Midlands' trains were running between Luton and St Pancras, while on Southeastern there were no Kentish Town to Denmark Hill trains.

A Network Rail spokeswoman said: "It won't be a quick and easy fix.

"We hope to have two of the four lines open for peak times tomorrow morning (Thursday) with the other two opening later in the morning."

Network Rail has advised passengers to check National Rail Enquiries for the latest information.

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