Tube trains forced to skip Liverpool Street station after flooding

London Underground passengers have been warned of flooding at Liverpool Street station.
Part of the UK's busiest station has become waterlogged after heavy rain battered London this morning.
Metropolitan line trains are unable to stop on the eastbound platform 'due to flooding,' TfL said on X.
An eyewitness told Metro that Circle line trains were rammed with queueing passengers trying to get on while others were trying to squeeze out.
The commuter said that suddenly upcoming trains on the departure board changed to 'not stopping.'
Some frustrated passengers were pushing to try to get on when trains did stop, she said.
'There were no staff announcements,' she said.
The flooding is not affecting National Rail services overground, Network Rail told Metro.
TfL Access said: 'Liverpool Street Trains non-stopping eastbound metropolitan line due to flooding.' More Trending
We approached TfL for a comment.
More than 94 million passengers travelled through London Liverpool Street last year.
The station saw 14.1 million more passengers compared to 2022-2023, thought to be due to the increased Elizabeth line usage after it opened in May 2022.
The station is set for major refurbishment to transform the railway station and to target 'significant overcrowding.'
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
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Metro

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18 hours ago

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Are London commuters treated worse than cattle in hot weather? I took the Tube to find out

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Victoria line: 33.6C The Northern line is considered one of the Underground's 'Deep' lines (Hampstead lies 58.5m below ground level) so consequently ventilation isn't always great. My journey avoided plumbing those depths while spiriting me from Warren Street back to Tottenham Court Road, but it was still hot, hot, hot. Northern line: 32.4C From the baking to the merely simmering, the journey from Tottenham Court Road to Bond Street via London's newest stretch of underground railway, the Elizabeth line, really shows the difference that air conditioning can make. Elizabeth line: 25.8C By the time I boarded the Jubilee line from Bond Street to Westminster I was starting to get used to the heat. Jubilee line trains are some of the smallest physically so there is very little room for ventilation or air conditioning units to be installed. Jubilee line: 31.3C The modern 'walk-through' District and Circle lines, like the Elizabeth line, are blessed with air conditioning. 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Piccadilly line: 34.2C The average temperature of my morning's travel was 31.3C, which, given that I was travelling before midday, is alarmingly hot. It's certainly warm enough for TfL to activate its hot weather plan: warnings that passengers should carry a bottle of water at all times could be heard frequently on my journey. Why does the Tube get so hot? A report by Rail Engineering in 2007 found that the vast majority of the heat is caused by the friction of the trains braking on the tracks. During the 2022 heatwave, trains were ordered to run more slowly to mitigate the release of braking heat. Once the underground gets hot, it stays hot. The clay into which the underground tunnels were dug acts as a heat sink, absorbing around 80 per cent of the heat generated. Scientists have estimated that when the tunnels were first dug, that clay would have been about 14C, and it is now 19-26C. Ventilation systems on the older and deeper lines such as the Piccadilly and Bakerloo were not designed to cope with the levels of heat produced by modern trains, so only around 10 per cent of heat is vented out of the network. The size of the tunnels on the London Underground are the second smallest of any underground railways in the world (only the Glasgow Subway has smaller tunnels) making it difficult and expensive to fit extra ventilation and air conditioning systems into them. What is TfL doing to cool down the Tube? There are a variety of schemes underway to help reduce temperatures underground, from air cooling units to massive chillers at some stations. Groundwater beneath Victoria station has been used for cooling; Green Park features an underground aquifer which helps cool it. Ventilation capacity and new fans are also being installed. Some Tube trains – including the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan and Elizabeth line – now feature air-conditioning within their carriages. The Piccadilly line will join this list when its new trains enter service from the end of 2025. The Bakerloo, Waterloo and City, and Central lines will be next in line, though no firm timeline has been announced. A TfL spokesperson told The Telegraph that despite 2019 reports of new air-conditioned trains being unveiled by 2030, funding was never secured and it was unlikely the trains would be air conditioned within the next 20 years, with Bakerloo line trains being given priority before then. Despite the Victoria line being the hottest on the underground last year (with temperatures averaging 30C between June and October) there are no plans to upgrade trains on the Victoria, Northern or Jubilee lines. How to stay safe when travelling in hot weather Always carry water to avoid dehydration. During hot weather, you can lose 1.5 to 2 litres of water an hour through sweat. 'If you don't replace these fluids, your blood thickens and your heart has to work harder to maintain your blood pressure and oxygen levels,' warns Dileep Lobo, a professor of gastrointestinal surgery at University of Nottingham, who researches fluid and electrolyte balance. According to nutritional therapist Madeleine Shaw, it could also be worth adding an electrolyte sachet to your water before you travel: 'This is a great way to start the day and really important on hot sweaty days,' she says. TfL regularly advices passengers to get off the train if they feel dizzy or unwell, as it is easier for paramedics to reach people on platforms than on the trains themselves. Carl Eddleston, TfL's Director of Streets & Network Operations, said: 'With continuous hot weather forecast over the coming days, we are encouraging customers to carry water with them when they travel. 'We have a comprehensive hot weather plan in place to protect the network's infrastructure with resources on standby to help respond to the impact and to keep services running. 'Please look out for each other while travelling. For the latest information on how TfL services are operating, customers should use TfL's real-time travel tools, including status updates, Journey Planner and TfL Go.'

Scottish Sun

20 hours ago

• Scottish Sun

New £3billion fleet of more than 90 air-conditioned trains promised for the end of 2025 delayed for another YEAR

Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED fleet of air-conditioned London Underground trains have been delayed by another year. The new £3 billion tube trains were expected to be in use by the end of the year. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 The Piccadilly line is set to see 94 new trains launched by the end of next year (stock image) Credit: AP The launch of the 'game-changing' fleet on the Piccadilly line will now be delayed by up to a year, according to The Standard. This massive blow to London commuters comes after the fleet was revealed to be the first 'deep level' Tube trains to be air conditioned. The eagerly-awaited fleet, which consists of 94 trains, will offer 10% more capacity as well as wider doors for quicker boarding, walk through carriages, and CCTV. They will replace an 'age expired' fleet of older Piccadilly line trains which dates to 1973. The update will enable peak-hour frequencies to be increased from 24 to 27 trains an hour, and will eventually see 36 trains running each hour, equivalent to the Victoria line. Transport for London (TFL) originally announced the first new Piccadilly line train would enter passenger service by the end of 2025. However, TfL publicly confirm on Friday, June 20 that the new trains are now not expected until the 'second half of 2026'. This delay has been caused by unexpected difficulties in introducing the first new train to challenging 'real life' conditions on London Underground infrastructure. The new trains are understood to have performed well on the test track. While first batch of trains are being built by Siemens in Vienna, Austria, the bulk of the order will be assembled at Siemens' new factory in Goole, east Yorkshire. Inside world's craziest city where you never know which floor you're on, trains run through houses & maps are useless A source told The Standard that the electrical equipment underneath the new trains was 'not in the right alignment'. TfL confirmed on Friday that 'the start of a rigorous programme of testing the interactions with the infrastructure and systems is delayed until the summer'. Part or full closures of the Piccadilly line will continue over the weekends to prepare the stations for the new nine-carriage trains. Stuart Harvey, TfL's chief capital officer, who is in charge of the introduction of the new trains, spoke on the latest update. 'It will obviously be disappointing for customers that they will have to wait a bit longer for the new trains, and I regret that," he said. Three scenic train journeys you can take in the UK Cornish Coast - One trip that rail enthusiasts seem to love is along a stretch of the Cornish coast and takes just 10 minutes to complete. The route from St Erth to St Ives only stops at Carbis Bay en route to its final destination, but the views out the window for the whole journey are pretty spectacular. Another highlight of the journey is that St Ives station is situated right next to Porthminster beach, meaning the sand and sea can be accessed almost immediately. Meanwhile, the station is less than a ten minute walk into town, where the harbour, shops, galleries and pubs can be explored. Durham to Edinburgh - Another train route that people in the UK love is the East Coast train line between Durham and Edinburgh, with coastal views and city landscapes among the sights that can be seen out the window. Newcastle, Berwick, Lindisfarne and Durham Cathedral are all among the highlights on that route. Scotland's West Highland Line - While Scotland is home to plenty of famous landmarks and top attractions, it also has one of the most breathtaking train routes in the world. Scotland's West Highland Line has previously been dubbed the best rail journey in the world by Wanderlust - and it's easy to see why. The journey from Glasgow to Fort William is one of my favourite train routes - and I've interrailed through mainland Europe. With mountain landscapes, serene lochs, wistful moors, and wildlife all visible through the train window, it's certainly a route all holidaymakers should consider doing at least once. 'But I would like to assure Londoners and visitors to our city that we are working extremely closely with Siemens to ensure that the new trains can be introduced as soon as possible." He estimated that the first fleet will come into operation "in the second half of next year", with a new 'window' set between July and December 2026. "Siemens and TfL are absolutely focused on trying to achieve the July end of the window,' he said. 'But it's too early to say we can get that yet.' He added that the hope is that all 94 trains will be in service '18 to 20 months' after the first one starts running. This would meaning the entire fleet would be in operation by the end of 2027 or early 2028. This delay means Underground passengers face an additional summer of soaring temperatures on the Picadilly line. 2 The delay in the new Picadilly trains means passengers will face another summer of commuting with no air conditioning in carriages (stock image) Credit: Alamy The first new Picadilly train arrived in London last October, and was spotted overnight on Underground tracks in west London in March. The TFL rep said the new trains would have a 'transformative effect' in the capital. The Piccadilly line connects King's Cross and the West End with Heathrow airport and beyond and is used for more than 10% of all daily Tube journeys – about 160 million trips a year. And watch as a TFL driver shows what he gets up to during his work shift. Plus, the famous voice of the London Underground speaks out after he is set to be replaced by AI. A busy UK train station is also set to close for a year to undergo a "state-of-the-art" transformation.