Power failure knocks out London Underground lines

A power failure has caused major disruption to the London Underground network and the Elizabeth line.

The Bakerloo line is currently suspended, as are parts of the Mildmay line, while there are delays on the Elizabeth, Jubilee, District, Circle and Piccadilly lines.

Earlier, sections of the Northern, Jubilee, Waterloo & City and Elizabeth lines were also shut.

Transport for London (TfL) said the issues had been caused by a short power cut which happened at about 14:30 BST. Power has since been restored, but delays and line suspensions are ongoing.

The Mildmay line is currently suspended between Highbury & Islington and Stratford, while there are severe delays on the rest of the line.

Minor delays are currently being reported on the Northern and Waterloo & City lines.

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."

Separately, the entire Suffragette line on London Overground is suspended due to a fire alert.

Among those caught up in the disruption was Michèle, a 71-year-old retiree, who said she had been sent from station to station while trying to reach Uxbridge.

"It's just a shame that the staff aren't kept up to date with which stations are open," she told BBC London outside Covent Garden station.

"I started at Tottenham Court Road which was shut so I went to Leicester Square to get the Piccadilly line."

"That was shut, the staff said Covent Garden was probably open by now, but it's still shut. Here they're telling me to go to Holborn. Hopefully that's open."

Covent Garden station is now open, according to TfL's website.

Justine, 53 and Benny, 20, who had travelled to London from the Warwickshire town of Leamington Spa to renew the latter's passport.

Speaking outside a closed Embankment station, their frustration at being unable to take a normally simple journey to Marylebone station was clear.

"It's going to be really annoying, I don't know how to get home," Justine said.

"We weren't even able to renew his passport. It was just one of those days."

National Grid said the problems were a result of a "fault" on its transmission network in central London.

Apologising for the inconvenience caused, a spokesperson said: "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."

Separately, a Network Rail spokesman said King's Cross station said "an extremely heavy downpour" caused issues with the drainage system which led to a power cut on several platforms.

"Despite these challenges, no trains were cancelled due to weather-related issues," he said.

"Colleagues returned the power to the platforms and cleaned up the rainwater from the station, making the area safe for passengers and allowing normal station running to resume by about 18:00 BST."

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]