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London Paddington disruption: New £16m 'bullet' train wrecks 500m of power cables causing commuter mayhem

A new £16million “bullet” train on a test run caused commuter mayhem after wrecking 500 metres of overhead power cables on the approach to Paddington station.

The major rail hub was almost effectively closed this morning with no services to or from Heathrow and Reading until lunchtime, and knock-on delays expected for the rest of the day.

GWR staff wheeled a trolley on to the Paddington concourse at around 8.30am to give away free tea, coffee and biscuits to frustrated commuters.

Heathrow Express and TfL Rail services were also halted for much of the day, with unrelated delays on Tube lines compounding difficulties for travellers.

Disruption: a Hitachi “bullet” train. A test drive of one caused misery for passengers today after it damaged overhead cables (Geof Shappard)
Disruption: a Hitachi “bullet” train. A test drive of one caused misery for passengers today after it damaged overhead cables (Geof Shappard)

The incident happened at Hanwell about 10pm last night. The Italian-built Hitachi train – capable of 140mph - was being used to train drivers when its pantograph arm, which connects carriages to overhead power cables, got caught in the wires.

It left seven services on the line stranded for several hours. One train derailed after becoming snagged in fallen power lines.

Emergency services were called to rescue scores of stranded passengers.

Sandeep Ahluwalia, 28, an advertising director who lives in Hayes, was among dozens of passengers stuck on a train for almost four hours.

Passengers were left stranded as there was no services to or from Heathrow and Reading (Jeremy Selwyn)
Passengers were left stranded as there was no services to or from Heathrow and Reading (Jeremy Selwyn)

“Police boarded the train to check on people,” he said. “There were two health scares. The driver had to rush to the back of the train where a guy in his 30s was distressed and was sweating.

“A few hours later an older man was rushed out too and he was covered in sweat. They were asking about a defibrillator.

“After more than three hours another train pulled alongside and it took another hour for people to transfer one by one to the new train.

“When we finally got to Paddington there was no information. We were told to get a free taxi but it was so disorganised.”

Another passenger, Param Dhaliwal, tweeted: “No lights, air conditioning, toilet facilities or updates!” Anila Babla, who tweeted a picture of a train being evacuated last night, said it took six hours to get home from Maidenhead.

Engineers work to fix the damaged cables (PA)
Engineers work to fix the damaged cables (PA)

Engineers worked through the night to investigate the extent of the damage.

Rossella Mauro, 38, an outsourcing manager who lives in Reading, was one of thousands left stranded this morning after a five-day visit to the capital.

She said: “I don’t know how I’m getting home. It is ridiculous this happened.”

Heathrow Express and TfL Rail services were also halted for much of the day (Jeremy Selwyn)
Heathrow Express and TfL Rail services were also halted for much of the day (Jeremy Selwyn)

Mike Bloy, 26, a recruitment consultant from Wandsworth, was trying to get to Maidenhead. “I’m going to have to pay £50 for an Uber to get there,” he said.

Transport executive Celia Alice, 30, from Peckham, said: “This is frustrating because all the apps said trains were running fine.”

Going nowhere: bicycles stored overnight at Paddington were left unused this morning after trains between London and Slough, and services to Heathrow, were cancelled (Jeremy Selwyn)
Going nowhere: bicycles stored overnight at Paddington were left unused this morning after trains between London and Slough, and services to Heathrow, were cancelled (Jeremy Selwyn)

Network Rail said: “We have been working throughout the night to understand the extent of the damage and we are focusing on trying to open some lines into London Paddington as soon as possible.

“We will provide regular updates on our progress throughout the day as the extent of the damage becomes clearer. However, severe disruption is expected on most routes.”

Alternative South Western Railway routes from Reading to and from Waterloo also suffered major disruption due to an unrelated signal failure.

GWR is paying around £600million for 36 of the high-speed Class 802 Intercity Express Trains, with the first of the five-carriage trains entered service in August.

The train involved in last night’s incident has not yet been handed over to GWR.

Hitachi said: “After years of successful testing on the route, we are taking today very seriously. A full and thorough investigation is taking place to identify the cause.”