Latest news with #powerfailure
The Independent
28-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Review sheds light on decision to shut Heathrow amid substation fire
A review into the Heathrow shutdown on 21 March, caused by a power failure, revealed that CEO Thomas Woldbye was unreachable during the incident as his phone was on silent. The decision to close Europe's busiest airport led to 1,400 flight cancellations, affecting more than 200,000 passengers. The review, led by Ruth Kelly, found that the decision to suspend operations was within the authority of chief operating operator Javier Echave, and would not have changed even if Mr Woldbye had been involved. The Kelly Review recommended enhancements to the notification process for critical incidents, including a secondary means of contact for key individuals, which Heathrow has already begun implementing. Airlines have criticised the decision not to open parts of Heathrow earlier, with a campaign group calling the internal Kelly Review insufficient in addressing poor contingency planning.
The Independent
28-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Heathrow boss slept until 6.45am on day of power shutdown due to his phone being on silent
On the day of the unprecedented closure of Heathrow due to a power failure, the airport boss slept soundly until 6.45am. The mobile phone of CEO Thomas Woldbye was on silent, the Kelly Review into the shutdown has revealed. The decision to close Europe's busiest airport on Friday 21 March led to 1,400 flight cancellations affecting more 200,000 people, and caused 120 planes that were already in the air to be diversions. Mr Woldbye was repeatedly called in the early hours of the morning. The first was a protocol alarm call known as F24 to alert him to the fire at a electricity substation feeding Heathrow. Then Javier Echave – the chief operating operator, who made the decision to close the airport for the whole of Friday – repeatedly tried to call his boss. The review by Ruth Kelly, a non-executive director of Heathrow, reveals: 'Although his phone was on his bedside table, Mr Woldbye reported that it did not alert him to the F24 alarms or to Mr Echave's other calls because the phone had gone into a silent mode, without him being aware it had done so and he was asleep at the time. 'Mr Woldbye first became aware of the incident at approximately 6.45am on 21 March, and received a debrief from Mr Echave. 'Although Mr Woldbye was therefore not involved in the decision to suspend operations, it was within Mr Echave's authority to make this decision, being the named individual on the CAA operating licence for the Airport. 'Neither Mr Woldbye nor Mr Echave considered the decision to stop operations would have changed had Mr Woldbye been involved.' The Kelly Review also reveals security staff in Terminal 2 had to rely on the torch function on their phones. 'Immediate interim adjustments were made after the incident to contingency plans, including issuing all security team members with battery powered torches,' the review says.
The Independent
15-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Infrastructure probe to look at why transport ‘brought to a standstill'
A probe into critical national infrastructure will look at 'broader questions' about why British transport networks have been 'brought to a standstill', according to the Transport Secretary. Heidi Alexander has said she expects answers in June about why a west London substation fire caused a major power failure at the UK's busiest airport, with more than 270,000 air passenger journeys disrupted on March 21. At the despatch box, Ms Alexander also took questions about disruption to the Elizabeth, Bakerloo, Jubilee and Northern lines in London on Monday after a fault with the National Grid's transmission network, and why HS2 is 'taking far longer and costing far more to deliver it than anyone expected'. Liberal Democrat transport spokesman Paul Kohler told the Commons: 'Following a fire at North Hyde substation which closed Heathrow a few weeks ago, various lines on the London Underground were brought to a standstill by another power outage this week. 'It's clear we need to do more to improve the resilience of our transport energy infrastructure, so will the Secretary of State commit to a full review to ensure these incidents do not keep happening?' Ms Alexander replied: 'There is a review being conducted by Neso (National Energy System Operator) about the Heathrow substation fire. The interim report has been published and we expect the the full report on that in addition – that will be coming in June. 'And we expect the Heathrow report to their board in May. I do work very closely and my department does with all transport operators to ensure that they have robust resilience plans in place, and the Government is conducting a review of critical national infrastructure to address broader questions.' Neso's 34-page interim review revealed the 'root cause of the fire remains unknown whilst forensic fire investigations are ongoing', and its lines of inquiry ahead of the final report include 'risk management and mitigation, and resilience planning by stakeholders' along with 'incident management coordination by key organisations, at operational and crisis management level'. According to the National Grid, the fault which affected transport networks in the capital 'was resolved within seconds and did not interrupt supply' but 'a consequent voltage dip may have briefly affected power supplies on the low voltage distribution network in the area'. Conservative former minister Sir Jeremy Wright had earlier raised the construction timeline for the London to Birmingham HS2 railway. 'The Secretary of State knows HS2's central purpose is to deliver economic growth, but she knows too that it's taking far longer and costing far more to deliver it than anyone expected,' he warned. Sir Jeremy continued: 'Given that projects of the scale of HS2 require parliamentary approval, isn't it important that Parliament has accurate estimates of how much and for how long the project will take to deliver? 'So will she commission a properly independent and thorough review of why it is that the budget for HS2 has increased so often and the timetable has expanded so often?' Ms Alexander said: 'I will be providing updates to this House on the emerging cost position and opening window. As (he) will know, this Government has appointed a new chief executive of HS2, Mark Wild, and he is conducting an ongoing review. 'We've also reintroduced ministerial oversight, which was so sorely lacking I'm afraid to say under his party's leadership. 'I recognise this is an important issue and we're doing all that we can do to deliver the rest of this railway for the lowest reasonable cost to the taxpayer so people can enjoy excellent rail services in the future.' On roads, Jess Brown-Fuller offered Ms Alexander a 'very warm invitation' to visit her Chichester constituency to 'sit in traffic'. The Liberal Democrat MP said her constituents face congestion 'morning, noon and night on the A27 which is strangling economic growth in the area and preventing investment'. Chancellor Rachel Reeves last year cancelled the nearby A27 Arundel bypass scheme, which like Chichester lies in West Sussex, after a Treasury audit found £3.5 billion of unfunded pressures related to transport in 2024/25. Responding to Ms Brown-Fuller, the Transport Secretary said she would 'look at the matters' raised, and added: 'As tempting as (Ms Brown-Fuller's) invitation is, I do regret that I won't be able to do that, and I won't commit the roads minister (Lilian Greenwood) to doing that, either.'
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Most Underground lines normal after power failure
Normal service has resumed on most lines on the London Underground network after a power failure caused major disruption on Monday afternoon. The Elizabeth, Jubilee, District, Northern, Waterloo & City, Circle and Piccadilly lines are now operating a good service, according to Transport for London (TfL). However, Metropolitan line passengers face severe delays due to the "late finish" of engineering works at Baker Street and the Mildmay line on the London Overground is partly suspended due to a points failure. TfL said disruption on several lines on Monday was caused by a short power outage in south-west London at about 14:30 BST, which caused caused knock-on problems across the network. The malfunction also caused a fire at an electrical substation in the Cunningham Place and Aberdeen Place area of Maida Vale, a London Fire Brigade spokesperson said. Firefighters were called to the substation and brought the flames under control, but three metres of high voltage cabling were destroyed, the fire service said. The National Grid has apologised for the disruption caused by the power failure. 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. "We once again apologise for any inconvenience and ongoing travel disruption." Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to Power failure knocks out London Underground lines Transport for London
BBC News
13-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Underground service mostly normal after power failure
Normal service has resumed on most lines on the London Underground network after a power failure caused major disruption on Monday Elizabeth, Jubilee, District, Northern, Waterloo & City, Circle and Piccadilly lines are now operating a good service, according to Transport for London (TfL).However, Metropolitan line passengers face severe delays due to the "late finish" of engineering works at Baker Street and the Mildmay line on the London Overground is partly suspended due to a points said disruption on several lines on Monday was caused by a short power outage in south-west London at about 14:30 BST, which caused caused knock-on problems across the network. The malfunction also caused a fire at an electrical substation in the Cunningham Place and Aberdeen Place area of Maida Vale, a London Fire Brigade spokesperson were called to the substation and brought the flames under control, but three metres of high voltage cabling were destroyed, the fire service National Grid has apologised for the disruption caused by the power failure.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."We once again apologise for any inconvenience and ongoing travel disruption."
