Commuters across London faced serious difficulty getting to work this morning as services faced extreme difficulty.
The focal point of these struggles was Paddington, where damaged overhead wires mean no trains will run out of the station until at least midday. This means GWR, TfL Rail and Heathrow Express are all currently not operating out of the station.
The disruption was apparently caused by a Hitachi test train travelling between London and a depot in Bristol last night.
Passengers attempting to travel between London and Slough are advised to avoid the station until at least midday. If you're trying to get to Reading or beyond, you're advised to travel via Waterloo, Marylebone or Euston depending on your final destination. Take a look at full route advice.
However those alternative stations might not be that easy to get to either. There are severe delays on three London Underground lines — Metropolitan, Jubilee and District — and minor delays on the Circle line to top it all off. Also thanks to the extra pressure on services, there are pretty hefty delays at Waterloo (although these are pretty much par for the course these days).
Empty departure boards at Paddington station - no mainline trains are running at all after “severe damage to overhead wires.” I’ve spoken to one man who had to spend the night in the station as he had no other way of getting home @LBC pic.twitter.com/OTthB2rl2S
— Rachael Venables (@rachaelvenables) October 17, 2018
If there's one bright spot in all this, it's that there are vintage buses running in London again, to help deal with passengers struggling to get into London
@GWRHelp thank you for the rail replacement bus service this morning aboard a 1960’s routemaster from Southall to Paddington :)
— Freshie Desi (@FreshieDesi) October 17, 2018
A surprise of nostalgia is very welcomed and totally unexpected.#rememberthepostiveofGWR @GetWestLondon @NetworkRailPAD @BBCTravelAlert pic.twitter.com/zmpiLgDAnw
