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A power cut in south London caused a disruption in the busy subway network of London, affecting several lines and leaving passengers stranded.
Passengers stranded at Paddington Station in London afrer a power outage. (AP)
A power outage on the London Underground network caused multiple lines to be suspended or disrupted on Monday and left passengers stranded, according to the British capital’s transport authority.
The Transport for London (TfL) website showed that at least two subway lines were suspended due to a power failure, and there were severe delays and partial suspensions on at least three other lines. Several stations in central London were completely closed, as per local media reports.
A spokesperson for the authority said there was a power cut in south London “for a matter of minutes,” causing disruption in the busy subway network. The spokesperson cited a “National Grid issue” for the shutdown of services.
As a result of the outage, the entire Bakerloo, Waterloo and City, Weaver, and Suffragette lines were suspended, while the Elizabeth, Jubilee, Midmay and Northern lines experienced severe delays and partial suspensions, according to Sky News.
A brief power supply “blip” is thought to have caused the power failures, starting with the Bakerloo line. This brief loss of power caused vital systems to shut themselves down. This included signalling-related systems used to control the trains, a source told The Telegraph.
Additionally, several stations were forced to close after the incident around 2.30 pm, including Marble Arch, Holborn, Covent Garden, South Kensington and Tottenham Court Road. The TfL spokesperson also said that “some people would have probably been stuck in a tunnel for a little bit of time.”
Meanwhile, the National Grid, the company supplying electricity in London, apologised and said a fault on its transmission network in central London and a “consequent voltage dip” may have briefly affected power supplies. However, it said the fault had been “resolved within seconds”.
TfL says it is currently working with the National Grid to determine the cause of the outage. The outage left people fuming on social media, with many criticising frequent power cuts in the subway network.
- Location :
London, United Kingdom (UK)
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