train travel london to maastricht

London travel news LIVE: Updates as disruption hits rush-hour trains between Waterloo and Clapham Junction

LIVE – Updated at 08:45

Trains between London Waterloo and Clapham Junction are expected to be disrupted during the evening rush-hour until 6pm.

National Rail says all lines towards Clapham Junction are now open, following a fault on a train near Vauxhall.

But train services may still be cancelled, delayed or revised, with disruption predicted to continue until 6pm.

All suburban services from London Waterloo are not calling at Vauxhall, Clapham Junction and Earlsfield until further notice,” says National Rail.

Meanwhile passengers travelling from Waterloo or Vauxhall to Clapham Junction, are asked to use services for Reading and Windsor.

Follow latest updates below.

Severe delays on Elizabeth line

Severe delays between Paddington and Reading/Heathrow due to overhead line problems in the Ealing Broadway area.

Van fire closes A3 southbound

The Southbound A3 from South Lane to Tolworth Roundabout has been closed due to a van fire causing lengthy tailbacks.

Delays on Elizabeth line

Minor delays are being reported on the Elizabeth line by Transport for London between Paddington and Reading /Heathrow due to overhead line problems in the Ealing Broadway area.

M25 closures tonight

Drivers have been warned there will be closures on the M25 tonight.

National Highways Southeast said the road would be closed anti-clockwise from junction six to junction five and clockwise from junction seven to junction eight between 10pm and 5am Wednesday.

A five-mile section of the road in Surrey was closed last weekend.

Disruption hits trains between London Waterloo and Clapham Junction until 6pm

Trains between London Waterloo and Clapham Junction are expected to be disruption throughout the evening rush-hour, until 6pm.

Lines towards Clapham Junction blocked, disruption expected until 4pm

Due to a fault on a train between Vauxhall and Clapham Junction some lines towards Clapham Junction are blocked, says South Western Railway.

Train services running to and from these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised, it warns. Disruption is expected until 4pm.

Fire alert at Notting Hill Gate caused by nearby bonfire

The London Fire Brigade has said it responded to reports of a smell of smoke at Notting Hill Gate Underground Station.

Firefighters conducted a search and found the smell was coming from a bonfire at a nearby property.

The Brigade was called at 12.07pm and the incident was over for firefighters at 12.52pm.

Firefighters from North Kensington fire station attended the scene.

Minor delays to Circle line

There are currently minor delays on the whole line due to an earlier fire alert at Notting Hill Gate.

Change to District line disruption

The District line was part suspended between High Street Kensington and Edgware Road - because of a fire alert at Notting Hill Gate.

It is now severely delayed.

Hammersmith and City Line delays now over

Earlier delays on the Hammersmith and City Line have now ended.

There are minor delays on the Piccadilly Line and DLR, while the District Line is part-suspended.

District Line part-suspended over fire alert

There is currently no District Line service between High Street Kensington and Edgware Road.

TfL says it is responding to a fire alert at Notting Hill Gate.

Minor delays on Hammersmith and City Line

We just reported that a good service had been restored to the Hammersmith and City Line, but TfL now says there are minor delays again due to “a member of staff taken ill on train earlier at Aldgate East”.

Hammersmith and City Line disruption now over

TfL says earlier severe delays on the Hammersmith and City Line are now over, and that a good service is now running across the line.

Euston trains delayed by 'animals on the railway'

Trains running between London Euston and Watford Junction in north-west London may be delayed by up to 15 minutes due to “animals on the railway” around Kensal Green, says TfL.

Minor delays on Central Line and DLR

Earlier severe delays on the Central Line have been downgraded by TfL to ‘minor’. They are affecting services between White City and Ealing Broadway/West Ruislip.

Minor delays are also still affecting the DLR between Stratford and Canary Wharf.

There is a good service on all other TfL lines.

Severe delays on Central Line westbound

There are severe delays westbound on the Central Line between Leytonstone and White City, says TfL.

This is due to a faulty train at Liverpool Street which is reportedly being repaired.

Elizabeth Line and Great Western Railway disruption now expected until 9.30am

Disruption to train services into London, caused by a signalling fault in the Taplow area, is now expected to last until 9.30am, says National Rail.

Services affected are:

• Elizabeth line between Reading and Abbey Wood
• Great Western Railway between Penzance / Paignton / Carmarthen / Weston-super-Mare / Worcester Shrub Hill / Oxford and London Paddington

District Line delays over, DLR delays continue

Delays on the District Line have now ended, says TfL, but minor delays on the DLR between Stratford and Canary Wharf continue.

District Lines delays downgraded to minor

Earlier severe delays on the District Line have been downgraded by TfL to ‘minor’.

The delays are affecting the stretch between Turnham Green and Ealing Broadway in both directions, and between Towel Hill and Earl’s Court westbound early.

One lane closed and traffic tailing back on M4 westbound

Traffic is tailing back on the M4 westbound, where one lane is closed due to a crash.

The congestion is affecting the M4 between junction 3 at the A312 The Parkway, for Hayes, and junction 4 for Heathrow and Uxbridge.

Elizabeth Line disruptions expected until 9am

Disruptions are expected to affect the Elizabeth Line right through rush-hour this morning.

A fault with the signalling system at Taplow means trains have to run at reduced speed on the line towards London, says National Rail.

As a result, Elizabeth line trains may be cancelled or delayed by up to 15 minutes.

Delays hit commuters on DLR

Minor delays are affecting the DLR this morning, between Stratford and Canary Wharf.

This is due to a faulty train at Poplar, says TfL, which adds there is a good service on the rest of the line.

Severe delays on District Line

There are severe delays on a large stretch of the District Line this morning.

The delays are affecting the section between Earl's Court and Ealing Broadway/Richmond, and are due to an earlier signal failure at Turnham Green, says TfL.

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Tube strikes 2024: Everything you need to know as Aslef announces walkouts next month

Aslef members working on london underground will stop work on monday 8 april and saturday 4 may, article bookmarked.

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Commuters in London face yet more transport chaos in April and May. Train drivers on the London Underground will walk out in a long-running dispute over terms and conditions.

The Aslef union, which represents nine out of 10 Tube train drivers, has called strikes on the London Underground on Monday 8 April and Saturday 4 May.

The industrial action is likely to bring the network to a halt.

Going places? The train drivers’ union, Aslef, has called strikes on the London Underground on Monday 8 April and Saturday 4 May

Finn Brennan, Aslef’s full-time organiser for the Tube, blamed the walk-out on what he said was the employer’s “failure to give assurances that changes to our members’ terms and conditions will not be imposed without agreement and that all existing agreements will be honoured”.

He said: “They want drivers to work longer shifts, spending up to 25 per cent more time in the cab, and to remove all current working agreements in the name of ‘flexibility and efficiency’.”

“Everyone knows what these management buzz words really mean. It’s about getting people to work harder and longer for less. “

Members of Aslef working for London Underground voted by more than 98 per cent in favour of strike action on a turnout of over 70 per cent.

These are the second and third days of action on the same issue. A one-day strike in March last year resulted in the closure of almost all the Tube network.

The strike does not involve train drivers on the Elizabeth Line, who are covered by a separate agreement. Services on London Overground and the Docklands Light Railway should also run as normal, though with crowding expected.

A Transport for London spokesperson said: “We have been in long-term discussions with our trade union colleagues on how to modernise procedures and processes on London Underground to improve the experience both for staff and customers.

“We have no plans to impose these changes and have committed to no one losing their job as part of these changes, and we have engaged with our unions to demonstrate that no change will be made that compromises our steadfast commitment to safety on the Tube network.

“We urge Aslef to continue discussions with us so that disruption for Londoners can be averted.”

The Tube action is not connected with the wider Aslef dispute with 14 National Rail train operators over pay and conditions. There is still no sign of a resolution to that dispute, with further strikes called in April.

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Easter travel delays forecast for UK due to poor weather and rail disruption

Line closures and strikes coinciding with school holidays and turbulent weather are expected to hit travel plans

A long Good Friday looms for many drivers and rail passengers who are heading off for a UK getaway, as the Easter weekend collides with the start of school holidays, engineering works and turbulent weather.

With more than 14 million leisure trips planned by drivers over the coming days, motorists have been warned to expect delays on many routes. Additional cars could be forced on to the roads because of major railway line closures, with strikes hampering possible return train journeys next week.

According to the RAC, some car journeys could take twice as long as normal as many schools are breaking up at the start of the bank holiday weekend this year, leading to an increase in getaway traffic.

Meanwhile, all trains in and out of London Euston on the west coast mainline to cities including Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Glasgow will be cancelled from Friday to Monday, with passengers wishing to travel diverted via rail replacement buses to Milton Keynes.

Getaway hell was expected to kick off on Thursday afternoon, with the biggest potential for gridlock coming from the south-east after 2pm with many schools closing at lunchtime.

With normal commuter journeys contributing to the traffic, the RAC and transport analysts Inrix forecast peak jams between 4pm and 5pm on the western flank of the M25 motorway between the M1 north and the M23 for Gatwick, including the turnoffs for the west and south-west. A usual one-hour drive on that stretch of the London orbital motorway is expected to take 2 hours 10 minutes or more, they predict.

Most long car journeys are expected to be made on Good Friday, with the lengthiest delays likely between 11am and 3pm. Two popular routes for holidaymakers – the M5 southbound between Bristol and Taunton and M3 between the M25 and the south coast – could take twice as long as usual.

One curveball is the British bank holiday weather , with changeable sun and rain either luring or deterring more in the coming days. The worst was forecast by the Met Office for Thursday afternoon, including strong winds and heavy rain at times, with a yellow warning for wind across the south of England .

The RAC Breakdown spokesperson Alice Simpson said: “If you do need to travel between the busiest hours of 2pm and 7pm, keep speeds appropriate to the conditions and leave plenty of extra stopping distance.”

She said anyone who could delay leaving until later on Thursday or set off as early as possible on Good Friday was likely to have a better journey, but lengthy queues could be expected.

Network Rail meanwhile has advised train passengers to check their journey details with £90m worth of engineering works scheduled to land awkwardly on the getaway plans of anyone fleeing London for the north in the coming days.

As well as the west coast mainline closure south of Milton Keynes, there will be disruption and closures around Glasgow and Huddersfield.

Network Rail’s network strategy director, Lawrence Bowman, said: “There’s never a good time to do the work we need to do but the four days of the bank holiday, when fewer people are travelling, give us the opportunity to do major work we couldn’t do in normal weekend.”

Rolling 24-hour rail strikes next week from 5 to 8 April by drivers in the Aslef union will halt most long-distance trains in Britain next Friday or Saturday, further hampering potential train holidays. The strikes affect different companies on different days but firms affected include Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway and CrossCountry on 5 April and GWR, LNER, Northern and TransPennine on 6 April.

Tourist board VisitEngland said around 11 million people in the UK are nonetheless planning an overnight Easter trip, generating an estimated £3.2bn boost to the economy.

Two million of us are, however, not taking that chance, according to travel association Abta, heading overseas instead. The somewhat balmier Canary Islands, mainland Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Turkey are the most popular destinations for foreign travel.

The Port of Dover has warned holidaymakers they may face delays due to tighter French border security after the Moscow concert attack, including controls in Dover before passengers board cross-Channel ferries. About 20,000 cars are expected to travel through the port this weekend.

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