Yahoo News London travel news LIVE: Piccadilly Line to be shut to Heathrow for much of half-term, TfL announces
The Piccadilly line will be part-closed for "essential" engineering work during half-term next week, TfL has announced - hampering services to Heathrow.
The closure will take place from Saturday, February 10 to Valentine's Day. The line will be closed between Hammersmith and Heathrow Airport between 12.45am to 5am on Saturday, and between Acton Town and Heathrow from Saturday morning to Thursday, February 15.
However, passengers will still be able to use the Elizabeth line to reach the airport.
It comes as commuters today face disruption due to the last day of the Aslef union's overtime ban, and continued delays on the Central line because of train shortages.
Follow latest updates below...
Aslef overtime ban
Tuesday 6 February 2024 06:49 , Josh Salisbury
Good morning and welcome to our coverage of today's travel disruption.
As a reminder, industrial action has been announced by the Aslef union, which has an imposed overtime ban until the end of today.
Among the impacts it's having is that the Gatwick Express services will not run all day.
There may be cancellations on the Stansted Express until the end of the day, Greater Anglia, which runs the service, has warned.
Meanwhile all South Western Railway services are subject to late-notice alterations and cancellations.
DLR could be extended under new proposals
Tuesday 6 February 2024 07:03 , Josh Salisbury
Londoners are being invited to have their say on a proposed cross-river extension to the DLR, which could allow up to 30,000 new homes to be built.
A consultation has been launched by TfL has asked for feedback on the plan to extend the Docklands Light Railway to Thamesmead, with the potential for further extensions to Belvedere and beyond.
The scheme has been launched to connect Thamesmead with the rest of the city while allowing for a substantial number of new homes to be built.
Thamesmead currently has no Tube, DLR or railway connections to the rest of London, with buses providing the only means of public transport.
TfL said it had considered a number of possible routes - including by extending the London Overground from Barking Riverside, or by creating a new tram service - but that extending the DLR from Gallions Reach would be the most effective option.
Some disruption after broken down train near Surbiton
Tuesday 6 February 2024 07:12 , Josh Salisbury
Early morning delays to services on South Western Railway were caused by a broken down train between Byfleet and Surbiton.
The company said in an early morning update: "Until the issue with this engineering train is rectified all lines between West Byfleet and Surbiton are currently blocked."
However, by 7.15am, the train appeared to have been moved, allowing services to resume normal service.
Minor delays on Central line
Tuesday 6 February 2024 07:17 , Josh Salisbury
As will be familiar to regular users of the Central line, the service is suffering from "minor" delays this morning due to a shortage of trains.
The line is suffering a chronic shortage of trains and it has been operating at times with barely half of the 78 trains required to run a peak service.
The trains have been out of action because the ageing motors on the trains, which date to 1992, are suffering catastrophic failures and have to be taken out of service to be replaced.
Minor delays between Victoria and Clapham
Tuesday 6 February 2024 07:24 , Josh Salisbury
A fault with the signalling system at London Victoria means trains have to run at reduced speed on some lines.
As a result, trains running between London Victoria and Clapham Junction may be delayed by up to 10 minutes, passengers are being warned.
The disruption is expected to continue until 10am.
Line between East Croydon and Gatwick Airport blocked
Tuesday 6 February 2024 08:14 , Josh Salisbury
Rail passengers hoping to get from Gatwick Airport face disruption this morning because of a train fault.
The fault on a train between Gatwick Airport and East Croydon means some lines are blocked.
Passengers are being advised that trains running between these station may be cancelled or delayed.
Train fault at Clapham Junction blocks some lines to Waterloo
Tuesday 6 February 2024 08:38 , Josh Salisbury
A train fault at Clapham Junction has blocked some lines towards Waterloo.
Trains may be delayed or revised, passengers are being told. It means services between Wimbledon and London Waterloo will not be able to call at Earlsfield, Clapham Junction and Vauxhall.
Passengers wishing to leave the train at these stations are being told to change at London Waterloo for a return service.
Bag on line blamed for Gatwick delays
Tuesday 6 February 2024 09:16 , Josh Salisbury
A bag on the line has been blamed for the delays on the lines between Gatwick and East Croydon.
Some lines are set to reopen shortly, said Gatwick Express - which itself is not running services today due to the Aslef overtime ban.
Normal services resume to Gatwick
Tuesday 6 February 2024 09:55 , Josh Salisbury
A bag on the line, which caused delays to and from Gatwick Airport, has been cleared, National Rail has said.
Services are now running normally, with the exception of the Gatwick Express, which is not running today due to an overtime ban by the Aslef union.
Piccadilly line to be part closed during half-term
Tuesday 6 February 2024 11:20 , Josh Salisbury
TfL has announced that the Piccadilly line will be part-closed from Saturday until the end of Valentine's Day. Here's what's happening:
- The Piccadilly line will be closed between Hammersmith and Heathrow Airportâ¯from 00:45 to 05:00 on Saturday 10 February, meaning there will be no Night Tube west of Hammersmith station.
- The closure will then change from start of normal service on Saturday, with no trains between Acton Town and Heathrow until start of serviceâ¯on Thursday 15 February.
Why is TfL part-closing Piccadilly line?
Tuesday 6 February 2024 11:26 , Josh Salisbury
TfL says the closure will allow "vital" upgrade works to points at Northfields, ahead of new trains being introduced on the line from 2025.
It says it will also allow for infrastructure work at Heathrow Airport stations to be completed.
The track in this area has some 1930s components, meaning it is time-consuming to replace, as it is not a like-for-like renewal.
This means that once the first section is removed, the rest of the track in the area must be removed and then replaced.
Minor delays on the Metropolitan line
Tuesday 6 February 2024 12:15 , Josh Salisbury
There are currently minor delays on the Metropolitan Line between Moor Park and Chesham due to train cancellations, TfL has said.
However, there is a good service on the rest of the line.
Poor weather to hit trains on Thursday and Friday
Tuesday 6 February 2024 14:05 , Josh Salisbury
Alongside industrial action, poor weather will cause disruption on Great Northern, Southern and Thameslink services.
Trains may be delayed, cancelled or revised, particularly on coastal routes between Thursday and Friday.
This is because some areas along the coast will see wind speeds of up to 55mph.
Several South Western lines blocked
Tuesday 6 February 2024 14:54 , Josh Salisbury
Several South Western Railway lines are blocked until at least 5pm, due to an issue at a level crossing between Datchet and Windsor & Eton Riverside.
It means trains have to run at reduced speed on all lines.
Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes, passengers have been advised.
Minor delays on Piccadilly Line
Tuesday 6 February 2024 15:54 , Jacob Phillips
There are currently minor delays on the Piccadilly Line between Acton Town and Heathrow Terminals due to train cancellations, TfL has said.
There are also minor delays between Acton Town and Rayners Lane but there is a good service on the rest of the line.
Trains from London Waterloo disrupted
Tuesday 6 February 2024 16:39 , Jacob Phillips
No trains are running between Staines and Windsor & Eton Riverside until around 6pm, National Rail has warned.Services from London Waterloo to Windsor & Eton Riverside will start and finish their journey at Staines in both directions.
Trains from London Waterloo to Windsor & Eton Riverside disrupted until the end of the day
Tuesday 6 February 2024 18:36 , Jacob Phillips
National Rail has warned that due to a problem at a level crossing between Staines and Windsor & Eton Riverside, all lines are closed.
Disruption is expected until the end of the day.
London Waterloo to Windsor & Eton Riverside services will start and finish their journey at Staines in both directions.
Passenger dies on board train from London to Liverpool
Tuesday 6 February 2024 21:55 , Jacob Phillips
A passenger has died on board an Avanti West Coast train travelling between London and Liverpool, the BBC has reported.
Officers were reportedly called to Watford Junction station just after 3pm due to reports of a casualty.
Avanti confirmed to the BBC the train had to stop and passengers were asked to disembark.
British Transport Police (BTP) said "a person has been pronounced dead at the scene".
The incident was not being treated as suspicious.
The train was believed to be the 14:43 from London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street, which has scheduled stops at Milton Keynes Central, Crewe and Runcorn.
BTP said: "Officers were called to Watford Junction station at 15:02 following reports of a casualty on board a train.
"Paramedics also attended however sadly a person has been pronounced dead at the scene.
"The incident is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for the coroner."
Live coverage ends
Tuesday 6 February 2024 22:39 , Jacob Phillips
Our transport live blog has ended.
Read all the latest transport news from the Evening Standard here.
