Paddington station chaos was caused by test train damaging electrical wires
Rush-hour travel chaos at Paddington station on Wednesday was caused by a test train damaging electrical wires the previous night.
Services ground to a half after 500m of electrical wires were ‘extensively damaged’ by the test service.
Many trains became stranded between Paddington and Reading due to a loss of power supply.
⚠ Major disruption to and from London #Paddington until the end of the day.
Trains will not run between London Paddington and Slough / Heathrow Airport until at least midday.
An amended timetable is in place for @GWRHelp services.
Full details – https://t.co/mT3b7GES1T pic.twitter.com/kRGWmkN2Kp
— National Rail (@nationalrailenq) October 17, 2018
This is… disappointing. #paddington pic.twitter.com/LeJcNafnKK
— Dr. Hilary Wynne (@Hilary_Wynne) October 16, 2018
Some services were eventually up and running at the major London hub by Wednesday afternoon, but rail bosses warned the disruption would last for the rest of the day.
Great Western Railway (GWR) added that a reduced timetable would impact most mainline routes to and from Paddington.
The operator said: ‘Owing to the extent of the damage, no trains are expected to be able to operate between London Paddington and Hayes & Harlington in either direction for much of Wednesday.
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‘As a result, GWR, TfL Rail and Heathrow Express will not be operating a train service between London Paddington, Hayes & Harlington or Slough until such time as repairs have been completed.’
It added: ‘If you are travelling from London beyond Reading please do not go to London Paddington but instead travel straight to either London Waterloo, London Marylebone or London Euston depending upon your ultimate destination.’
Naturally, the news did not go down well with commuters:
All trains to paddington from the west are cancelled. Who’s about to have a fun morning? 🙋🏼🙋🏼🙋🏼
— Leanne (@L__McC) October 17, 2018
@GWRHelp no trains to Paddington all day?? Because of over-head cables? Why is there always something with you people? If it’s not overhead wires it’s signalling problem #britishfail
— Maria Turauskis (@fuckmeitsmiatea) October 17, 2018
My travel jinx strikes again. All trains from Bristol to Paddington cancelled due to damage to the overhead cables… the trains are still diesels from Bristol…
— Nigel Mercer (@NigelMercer) October 17, 2018
You’re completely accurate in the lack of communication. I was sat on a train at Paddington for an hour before deciding to get a train from a different station. If I hadn’t then I could have been stuck in London. No information from GWR during this time.
— Newcastle_PhD (@Newcastle_PhD) October 17, 2018
No trains to Paddington all morning. In one of the wealthiest countries in the world. In 2018. Literally ridiculous.
— Edible Reading (@EdibleReading) October 17, 2018
Wednesday’s travel chaos came after commuters faced major delays on Tuesday evening as electricity supply problems caused delays and cancellations on a number of busy routes in and out of London.
Southern, Southeastern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express were all reporting cancellations and delays of up to 45 minutes.
