Northern Line: London Underground disruption due to signal failure

  • Published
King's Cross stationImage source, @lynseyshev
Image caption,

Passengers at King's Cross station had to join long queues to use the Tube

Passengers are facing travel disruption after an entire London Underground line was suspended due to a signal systems failure at the main control centre.

One commuter tweeted that he "hated the Northern Line", which was suspended just before 06:00 BST.

The Tube line connects transport hubs Waterloo, King's Cross and Euston and is used by more than 800,000 people every day.

The service had reopened by 13:00, but is now running with minor delays.

Commuter Mario Toubes-Rodrigo said he missed his pre-booked train to Milton Keynes because it took 75 minutes to make a journey that normally takes 20 minutes.

"I waste so much time and money on the Northern line," the microbiologist said.

"I get up to leave my house even earlier and pre-book my train tickets to avoid problems but I still end up having to buy on the day tickets and turning up late to work."

Mario Toubes-RodrigoImage source, Mario Toubes-Rodrigo
Image caption,

Mario Toubes-Rodrigo had to use three London Underground lines to reach his connecting train

There is still no service on the Northern Line between Camden Town and Kennington via Charing Cross.

Tube tickets are being accepted on Southeastern and Thameslink trains, as well as on trams and buses.

The Metropolitan Line has minor delays as a result of the signals failure. Problems were also reported on the Bakerloo line, but have since cleared.

Replacement buses through London were earlier reported to be overcrowded, with one commuter complaining it was "everyone for themselves".

Commuters queue outside Camden stationImage source, @Gadgetem
Image caption,

Commuters were unable to access stations across the Northern Line

The delays come as schools open for the new term this week and commuters on social media complained of having to queue to access stations.

People also said they had been forced to miss trains from King's Cross and Euston because of the disruption.

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Brian Woodhead, London Underground's director of customer service, said: "I am extremely sorry for the disruption suffered by customers on the Northern Line today following a signalling system failure at our control centre.

"Our engineers are working hard to fix the problem and restore a full service as quickly as possible."

Tube station door closedImage source, Dan Assor
Image caption,

Some Northern Line stations were closed

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Commuters at VictoriaImage source, @Alicechadfield
Image caption,

People said they were stuck in queues waiting to access the London Undergound

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