Severe delays disrupt major London Underground line

Today’s rolling travel coverage has been dominated by the Tube.

The District line continues to be suspended between High Street Kensington and Edgware Road for the second day.

Thank you for following today, tune back in tomorrow for Friday travel updates.

One map enthusiast is on a mission to change the iconic Tube map.

It is unlikely it will ever be adopted as the official version, but university lecturer Dr Max Roberts has spend hours creating an alternative, circular Tube map.

The reason?

Max said he current official TfL map is ‘really horrible.’

The Piccadilly line was hit by severe delays this evening after a broken down train in central London.

This has now been downgraded to minor delays between Acton Town and Uxbridge due to the earlier faulty train at Russel Square.

Trains between Acton Town and Heathrow Terminals were affected, but this has been cleared.

Here is what travel looks like on the rest of the TfL network.

• Central line – Minor delays between Leytonstone and Hainault due to train cancellations
• District – No service between High Street Kensington and Edgware Road due to a points failure at High Street Kensington since yesterday
• Jubilee line – Minor delays due to train cancellations
• London Overground – Minor delays between Stratford and Richmond / Clapham Junction due to an earlier overhead wire problems at Camden Road
• Victoria line – Minor delays due to an earlier customer incident

The Underground District line has been hit by further disruption today.

There is no service between Upminster and Upminster Bridge westbound only due to a fire alert at Upminster.

Elsewhere on the District line, a points failure in Kensington means there has been no service between High Street Kensington and Edgware Road since yesterday.

The fire service has confirmed that the station did not have a fire incident.

A London Fire Brigade spokesperson told Metro.co.uk: ‘We were called at 1542 today (15 August) to a report that the fire alarm had been activated at Kings Cross Underground Station.

‘Firefighters attended and following investigation, established there was no fire. Three fire engines attended the scene.’

Witnesses at the scene have published footage from the scene of St Pancras station where a fire engine is seen waiting outside of the station.

Other commuters have posted pictures of people rushing out of the station.

The station evacuation comes as Taylor Swift fans descend on the capital ahead of her three shows in London this weekend.

Fans have been posting messages on X warning each other of the incident.

King’s Cross St Pancras station in London has been evacuated due to a a fire alert.

Limited details have been given so far but London’s transport network Transport for London has posted on X that people are being urged to leave the station immediately due to the alert.

In a post on X, TfL Access said: ‘King’s Cross St. Pancras station – This is Closed due to a fire alert.’

Passengers have been warned of delays and cancellations on the London Overground after a problem with the overhead wires.

There is no service between South Acton and Richmond, and the rest of the line has severe delays, the latest TfL status update shows.

Trains could be cancelled or delayed by up to 30 minutes, and disruption is expected until 4.30pm, National Rail says.

More than 74,000 passengers who were fined and prosecuted for fare dodging are set to get a refund.

It comes after four train companies used a controversial single justice procedure (SJP) to privately prosecute fare dodgers – despite not being allowed to use it.

Now the operators – including Northern Rail and Greater Anglia – could face paying out millions of pounds to those who received a notice in the mail saying they have been fined and prosecuted and were given the option to plead guilty or not guilty.

But Judge Paul Goldspring, the Chief Magistrate at Westminster Magistrates Court, said in June the convictions were ‘probably unlawful.’

Even the lawyers for rail companies told a hearing last month they were ‘in agreement’ that the prosecutions should be thrown out.

Judge Goldspring said today today that six test cases should be declared ‘void,’ adding that thousands of other cases would be dealt with in the same way over the coming monts.

While the two other train companies have not yet been publicly named, the judge said the courts service, the Department for Transport and the train operators would start work to identify the affected passengers.

He also said that ‘a team will be put in place to begin the work of recovering the money paid and refund the money to individuals’ by November.

‘There are discussions ongoing with all the parties about how that may be paid,’ he added.

Neither the amount of money to be refunded nor the number of people affected has been confirmed, but Judge Goldspring said ‘over 74,000’ people is a ‘best guess at the moment.’

‘It was terrifying’

Sarah Cook, a pet shop owner from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, was fined £475 under the SJP system after she failed to pay a £20 fine for travelling without a ticket between Wombwell and Barnsley in November 2022.

The 42-yar-old said she had been waiting to hear back for a year on an appeal against the original fine.

But instead, she was told she had been prosecuted.

Her case was one of the six test cases.

For her, the train companies admitting that her prosecution was wrong after fining her was ‘a kick in the teeth,’ she said, adding that it puts ‘a massive no-go’ on travelling on trains.

Sarah said: ‘It’s a kick in the teeth. I know some people would say take the win, sit back, appreciate that. For me, although money at the time was an issue, for me more than the money was the stress.

‘I have not got a criminal record, I’m not somebody out there committing crimes, and for somebody to say you could have a criminal record, you could potentially face jail time if you have been a repeat offender, to me that was terrifying.’

She said that a ‘we’re sorry’ wasn’t enough for putting ‘75,000 people under the pressure of going to court, having to fill out multiple documents, potentially being threatened with larger fines and criminal records.’

Have you been affected? Please email [email protected].

One has has been closed on the A2 eastbound between junction with the M25 and the A2260 near Dartford after a crash.

Three lanes remain open and traffic appears to be coping.

The incident is expected to clear by 4.15pm, National Highways alert says.

Is anyone missing a tortoise?

This little guy was found crawling on the train tracks, but is now waiting with ticket office staff until his owner claims him.

But he doesn’t seem stressed – in fact, he seems to be enjoying his stay in the station, where he was filmed munching on cucumbers.

Children and adults with type 1 diabetes have revealed they felt ‘bullied’ at Stansted Airport after being searched and ‘treated like criminals’.

One woman said when she travelled with her autistic son, 15, they were ‘bullied’ into walking him through the x-ray machine, despite her son wearing an insulin pump at the time.

April told the BBC her son was searched in a separate room and has told his mum he ‘doesn’t want to fly again’.

The airport said in a statement: ‘Passengers always have a right to opt out of a body scanner for medical or non-medical reasons, and have a hand search in private instead.

‘If there was any miscommunication at the time, we are very sorry for that and any distress or confusion this may have caused, and wholeheartedly apologise.’

The London Fire Brigade has warned locals from heading to Bromley town centre as they attempt to bring a fire under control.

There are currently no road closures but there is ‘heavy congestion’ on Westmoreland Road as fire fighters attempt to fight the blaze in a block of flats.

In case you missed it, yesterday EasyJet announced a wave of holiday flight cancellations to and from Portugal ahead of a cabin crew strike over work conditions.

The budget airline which operates flights to some of the most popular holiday hotspots across Europe has axed 232 flights over the next three days.

It comes after EasyJet cabin crew announced a three-day strike action in Portugal from Thursday.

EasyJet operates flights to and from Lisbon, Porto, Porto Santo, Faro and Madeira Funchal airports in the country.

A spokesperson for EasyJet said: ‘We are extremely disappointed with this needless strike action, especially at this important time of the year for our customers. 

‘Customers whose flight has been affected have already been contacted a number of days ago with their options to rebook or receive a refund.

‘We also advise customers travelling to and from Portugal on 15, 16 and 17 August to check the status of their flights on the easyJet Flight Tracker.’

Traffic clockwise on the M25 is moving slowly after a crash earlier today involving a lorry and a car on the A282.

One lane was closed earlier but it’s now reopened, with traffic slowly getting back to normal.

The Central line is experiencing minor delays between Woodford and Epping due to a points fault at Epping.

Luckily, the rest of the line is still running smoothly.

Delays are expected until around 10.15 this morning on the A34 heading south from Oxford, with delays of up to 15 minutes expected. Traffic is stagnant in some areas.

For commuters using South Western Railway, they may see train revisions due to an issue with platform equipment in Hersham. Disruption will last until around noon, they say.

Due to ongoing repairs to the track between New Mills Central and Chinley, the route between Manchester and Sheffield will be affected until the end of the month.

National Rail said: ‘Trains may be cancelled, diverted or replaced by buses for part of the journey.’