Rush hour chaos looms as fire on railway line affects Overground, Southern and Thameslink trains

A fire on a railway line in south-east London has closed all rail lines in the area, causing major disruption.

The fire next to the railway line at Brockley caused a traffic jam between Sydenham and New Cross Gate on Tuesday morning.

Network Rail has warned that the fire has damaged cables that supply power to the railway, causing major disruption to train services between London Bridge and Crystal Palace.

London Overground only operates between New Cross Gate and Highbury & Islington.

Meanwhile, Southern and Thameslink services running through the area may be cancelled or diverted to and from London Victoria.

Serious disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Elsewhere, an accident on the track between Swindon and Didcot Parkway on Tuesday morning closed several rail lines between Paddington and the south-west of England and Wales.

The incident caused delays of 90 minutes on Great Western Railway trains between the station in London and cities including Cardiff, Bristol and Plymouth.

Follow the latest updates below….

Paddington trains still experiencing 30-minute waits

13:34 , Jacob Phillips

Trains between London Paddington and the South West are still 30 minutes late due to a casualty on the tracks this morning.

The lines have reopened following the incident between Swindon and Didcot Parkway, but trains may still be delayed, have changed timetables or be cancelled, National Rail said.

We can’t run ‘normal’ service, say Thameslink and Southern

13:28 , Josh Salisbury

Thameslink and Southern have announced that they will not be able to operate a normal service that afternoon.

In a message to customers, the train companies said: “Earlier this morning we were informed of a large fire affecting the wiring along the track between Norwood Junction and London Bridge.

“This has resulted in several signal failures and as a result we are unable to operate a normal service in either direction between East Croydon/Norwood Junction and London Bridge (via Forest Hill/Sydenham) until further notice.

Network Rail colleagues are on site and following the successful intervention of the fire service they are now replacing the damaged equipment.

“Then tests will begin to ensure the correct operation of the new equipment, with the aim of slowly restarting some services this evening.”

Thameslink cancellations and disruptions

13:08 , Josh Salisbury

Also this afternoon, a number of Thameslink trains will be cancelled or disrupted due to the cable fire.

These are:

– Trains between Brighton and Bedford are being diverted between East Croydon and Blackfriars and will therefore not stop at London Bridge.- Trains between Horsham and Peterborough are being diverted between East Croydon and Blackfriars. These trains will not stop at London Bridge, but will also stop at Earlswood and Salfords in both directions.- Trains between Brighton and Cambridge are being cancelled.- Trains between Three Bridges and Bedford (stopping services via Redhill) are being cancelled.- Trains between East Grinstead and Bedford are being cancelled.

Southern details of afternoon disruptions after cable fire

12:50 , Josh Salisbury

Southern has announced that no trains will run from London Bridge this afternoon due to a cable fire.

Until 4:00 PM at the latest it said:

– Trains between Uckfield and London Bridge will only run between Uckfield and East Croydon, otherwise they will be cancelled.

– Trains between Tattenham Corner/Caterham and London Bridge are being diverted via an alternative route between East Croydon and London Bridge.

– Trains between Epsom and London Bridge are cancelled

– There are no longer any trains running between London Victoria and London Bridge.

Some lines reopen after cable fire – but only for an hour

12:32 , Josh Salisbury

Some lines are temporarily reopening after a cable fire at Brockley station.

Some lines between East Croydon and London Bridge are open again until 12.30pm.

But then the peak hour service on Southern is diverted again via Selhurst, meaning they don’t stop at London Bridge.

Network Rail says this will last until 4pm.

Railway line reopened after accident on track near Didcot Parkway

11:55 , Jacob Phillips

Trains are running again after an accident on the track at Didcot Parkway caused long delays on services between London Paddington and the south-west of England and parts of Wales.

Despite the reopening of the line, there are still delays of 90 minutes.

Disruptions are now expected until 3 p.m.

Photos show damage to cables near Brockley

11:32

Network Rail has told customers it will begin work as quickly as possible to replace signal cables following a fire near the tracks at Brockley station.

Photos show where the fire has burned through a number of key cables. Engineers hope to reopen the line on Tuesday evening, Network Rail added.

Firefighters have extinguished a ‘small fire’ at Brockley station

10:30 , Jacob Phillips

The London Fire Brigade (LFB) has provided further information about a railway fire in Brockley which is causing major disruption to the capital’s rail network.

A spokesman told Standard Fire Brigade they had extinguished a “small” fire along the track near Brockley station in the early hours of the morning.

Shortly after 4am the LFB was called and just over an hour later, at 5.11am, the incident was brought under control.

One fire engine from New Cross fire station attended the scene.

90-minute delay between Paddington and South West due to ‘casualty on track’

10:16

A casualty has been reported on the track, causing lengthy delays between Paddington and the south-west of England.

British Transport Police told the Standard: “Officers were called to the line at Wantage at around 8.28am today (September 17) following reports of a casualty on the tracks.

“Paramedics also attended the scene, but unfortunately one person was pronounced dead at the scene. The incident is not being treated as suspicious and a file is being prepared for the coroner.”

National Rail has warned of delays of up to 90 minutes between Paddington and stations including Penzance, Bristol Temple Meads and Cardiff Central.

Major disruption between Paddington and south-west England

09:29

Trains to and from London Paddington are experiencing 90-minute delays due to an emergency between Swindon and Didcot Parkway.

National Rail has warned that all lines between the two stations are blocked and there are long delays between Paddington and stations including Cardiff Central, Bristol Temple Meads and Penzance.

Serious disruption is expected until 1 p.m.

Some lines to London Waterloo blocked

08:35 , Jacob Phillips

Commuters are facing further problems during rush hour as a number of lines towards London Waterloo are blocked due to a broken down train.

South Western Railway has warned that some trains may be cancelled or delayed until 9.30am due to the problem.

Fire along track ‘safely extinguished’, says LFB

08:29 , Jacob Phillips

The London Fire Brigade reported that a fire broke out along the railway line near Brockley station shortly after 4am on Tuesday.

According to the LFB, the fire has been safely extinguished, but major disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Major disruption to rail services in South London until the end of the day

08:10 , Jacob Phillips

National Rail warns that train services in south London will be severely disrupted until the end of the day.

All services between Sydenham and New Cross Gate remain closed while emergency services tackle a fire on the track at Brockley station.

Minor delays on the Elizabeth line

08:06 , Jacob Phillips

Commuters on the Elizabeth Line also experienced delays on Tuesday morning.

There are delays on the line between Maidenhead and Reading as Transport for London works to fix a signal fault at Twyford.

TfL says service on the rest of the route is good.

Overground trains cannot run in South London

07:43 , Jacob Phillips

Due to a fire, no trains are running on the London Overground in South London.

There are no train services between New Cross Gate and Crystal Palace and West Croydon due to the fire at Brockley.

Transport for London has informed customers that tickets are being accepted on the Underground and that service on the rest of the Overground is good.

Fire damaged electricity supply

07:30 , Jacob Phillips

The fire along the track at Brockley station has damaged cables that supply the railway with electricity.

Network Rail shared a photo of the fire and apologised, warning that the fire will cause major delays during the peak period.

The London Fire Brigade is currently on the scene tackling the fire.

Fire near railway line causes huge delays in south London

07:26 , Jacob Phillips

A fire next to the track at Brockley station means no trains are running in the area.

The serious disruption is affecting Thameslink and Southern services running between East Croydon/Norwood Junction and London Bridge.

National Rail has warned that a “major fire” is burning along the wiring between Norwood Junction and London Bridge.