London Grinds To A Halt

[bambob]

London grinds to halt after blasts

7 July 2005

The explosions in central London today threw the capital's transport network into chaos.

The entire Tube system, used by three millions people a day, was suspended while bus services in the centre of London also ceased.

King's Cross, Euston and Liverpool Street main line stations were closed, with operations to injured people being carried out on the Liverpool Street concourse.

While some main line services continued to run into London, other companies were halting trains short of the capital.

Euston Road, Marylebone Road and Aldgate one-way system were among roads closed in the centre of London. Motoring organisations described the heart of the capital as "totally gridlocked".

With the Underground services suspended, airlines at Heathrow warned that flights could be delayed with flight crews and passengers likely to have difficulty reaching the west London airport.

A transport source said: "The Underground is likely to be shut for many hours."

Following the bus explosion, a Transport for London (TfL) spokesman said: "Checks are being undertaken on all buses that remain in service and at all bus garages. We are advising passengers not to go into central London."

The Heathrow Express which runs from Paddington station in west London to the airport, was suspended, while the Stansted Express was not travelling as far as its normal terminus - Liverpool Street station. The Gatwick Express out of Victoria station was operating normally.

London to Scotland train company GNER said it did not expect any of its East Coast main line trains to be able to get in and out of London today and that services were likely to get only as far south as Peterborough and Stevenage.

Among other train companies unable to run all the way into London were First Great Western and Silverlink. First Great Western trains ran only as far as Reading, Berkshire.

The London to Paris and Brussels high-speed Channel Tunnel train company Eurostar was able to continue services in and out of Waterloo station.

Train companies advised passengers not to try coming into London today.

An RAC spokesman said: "Once people heard news of the explosions, some tried to leave London. The roads in the centre are totally gridlocked and we are warning people not to drive in the London area.

"Our advice to people who feel like leaving offices and trying to go home at the moment is to stay put and listen to advice from the police and emergency services."

A British Airways spokeswoman at Heathrow airport said: "The airport is operating, but there could be some delays to flights as it will be difficult for staff to get in."

Chiltern Railways, already affected by last week's tunnel collapse at Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire, was unable to run trains into Marylebone station in central London, while Midland Mainline services was starting and terminating at Bedford.

A spokesman for Heathrow Airport, London's main airport, said at 11.45am that all flights were taking off although Israeli flights were experiencing extra security measures.

"At this stage the airport is operating normally but we are advising passengers to look at other ways of getting to the airport because the Tubes are still down."

He added that the airport was keeping the situation under review.

Railway stations at Liverpool Street, Kings Cross, St Pancras, Marylebone, Euston and Stratford were closed until further notice, while security alerts also closed Brighton and East Croydon stations.

Later, the Stansted Express rail service was suspended, although flights were operating normally at Stansted airport in Essex.

Gatwick airport in West Sussex was also running a normal service. But a Gatwick spokeswoman added: "We are advising passengers that because of the events in London today there could be some disruption."

Network Rail (NR) said train services into Euston, King's Cross, Liverpool Street and St Pancras remained suspended but other mainline stations in the capital were operating normally.

Trains due to travel into the closed stations were being turned back miles away from the capital.

NR said it was working with police to try to re-open the closed stations later today so that people could get home.

evening stanadrd source