Tube latest: Chaos for commuters as power outage hits London Underground

Sky News

12-05-2025

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Evacuee grateful to TfL staff after 'nightmare' journey
Vaughan Kennedy was caught up on a "baking hot" train at Waterloo when they were told to evacuate.
On a hot day in the capital, he said TfL staff did "everything possible to communicate the problem, and to ensure that people were safely evacuated".
"The ensuing bus journey was a bit of a nightmare with overcrowding, but eventually, after an hour and a half, we managed to get back home," he told us, completing what should have been a 15-minute train back.
"A big thank you to London Underground staff, whose job at times like these, must be very difficult and frustrating."
Shutters down at Waterloo
We've just had this picture sent in to us by one of our readers, showing the shutters down at Waterloo, a key station in central London.
If you have anything you want to send in to us, get in touch via the details in the post above.
Two stations reopen
Two of the Tube stations closed due to this afternoon's power outage have reopened.
Transport for London said Embankment and Putney Bridge were now open after being shut around an hour ago.
Delays on the underground services are still widely expected.
Mildmay line part suspended
In our first post at 15.46, we listed the lines affected by closures and delays.
The Mildmay line has now been added by TfL, with no service between Highbury & Islington and Straford.
There are severe delays on the rest of the line.
Passengers turned away since 2.30pm
The power outage hit the Tube at around 2.30pm, with passengers turned away from Elizabeth line services since then.
Alison Hendry, 33, and Joseph Richardson, 37, were among them, having taken the Heathrow Express to Paddington after flying in from Glasgow earlier today.
Alison said: "It's a bit annoying they only told us when we got here.
"We walked all the way across the station, we have to go all the way back."
The pair hope to reach Walthamstow in time for a comedy show tonight.
Transport for London's website down
It seems the Transport for London's website is also dealing with intermittent issues.
When trying to access their page providing status updates on the affected lines, we were met with this message...
Several stations closed
Multiple London Underground stations have been closed due to the power outage caused by a "National Grid issue".
Here are the stations that have been closed, according to the Transport for London Access account on X... Marble Arch
Holborn
Tottenham Court Road
Putney Bridge
Embankment
South Kensington
Covent Garden
Charing Cross was also closed, but has recently reopened.
TfL: 'We can't say when it will be fixed'
TfL officials have been seen directing passengers away from Elizabeth line services at Paddington station.
The Bakerloo line entrance is completely shut at the station - and TfL does not know when the issue will be fixed.
A spokesman said: "It was a power outage. The lights just went off, we don't know anything else.
"It's been about an hour-and-a-half now. We can't say when it will be fixed."
Suspensions and delays caused by 'National Grid issue'
The suspensions and delays hitting the London Underground have been caused by a "National Grid issue".
Transport for London said there was an outage in southwest London for "a matter of minutes" and "everything shut down" due to the problem.
"When the power goes out the trains will have stopped, obviously, there's emergency power on trains and stations so everything wouldn't have gone completely black, if you were on there, but the trains would have stopped and we would have cleared some stations because there's no electricity it might not necessarily be safe for them to be open ... some people would have probably been stuck in a tunnel for a little bit of time," the spokesman said.
TfL is in the process of "getting things back up and running again", he said.