Black Tuesday on the Tube

It was London Underground's Black Tuesday. Chaos that began during the morning rush hour continued throughout the day and brought misery for thousands of homebound commuters last night.

Everything from signal failures to security alerts combined to shut down up to five Tube lines. Ironically, the mayhem came on the day the Standard revealed that longsuffering passengers are turning their backs on London Underground in droves because of the poor service.

A series of isolated incidents contributed to people arriving late for work - and reaching home even later. At the height of the evening rush hour, the Metropolitan line was suspended between Baker Street and Aldgate after a signal failure at Moorgate station.

Earlier at Notting Hill Gate, trains were delayed for more than an hour and a half when two men were reportedly spotted walking on the track towards High Street Kensington at around 3pm. No one was found.

However, the alert meant the power had to be shut off, halting District and Circle line trains. The power was turned on again around 4.30pm but there were huge knock-on delays after that.

Then, around 10 minutes later, the Circle Line came to a halt again, bringing with it a large section of the Metropolitan and Hammersmith & City lines as well. This was due to a signal failure at Edgware Road.

At 18.27, the third signal failure of the evening brought the Eastern end of the Jubilee Line to a stop - again in both directions - between Canary Wharf and Stratford. At much the same time, a security alert halted District line trains between Turnham Green and Ealing Broadway.

A second security alert caused the suspension of the Central and District lines between North Acton and Ealing Broadway. District line drivers were warning passengers that services were so chaotic, they should not rely on indicator boards.

Media executive Mike Reeves called the Evening Standard in desperation from Earls Court as he was stranded on his way home to Surrey.

He said: "It's always a rotten journey home by Tube, but this is exceptional even by their abysmal standards. At Earls Court, there are so many people on the platforms that they are literally fighting to get onto trains. Dozens are being left behind. It's a total nightmare."

An LU manager said: "We can only profusely apologise to passengers for all the trouble they suffered yesterday. We know that many had really horrendous problems both in the morning and the evening. This was caused by a combination of signal failures, security alerts and an incident involving a police search of the tunnels."

The trouble began early in the day when a security alert at North Greenwich station shut a huge part of the Jubilee line throughout the morning peak.

Then, at Whitechapel station, workmen nearby reported they had found a Second World War bomb.

This halted the Eastern end of the District line with trains stopping short at Tower Hill. Hammersmith & City line services were also curtailed as the station and surrounding streets were evacuated. The "bomb" was eventually found to be a section of old pipe.

The day of disruption came as a new report revealed that millions of passengers are being put off the trains and the Tube because of poor service. On the Underground alone, an estimated 300,000 fewer journeys are being made each week, resulting in a £500,000 fall in income.

This was, however, swiftly dismissed by the Transport Department, which is blaming the reduction in passeng er numbers on the 11 September terrorist attacks.

A spokeswoman told the Standard: "Much of this is due to the reduction in the number of tourists since 11 September. We do not believe that the fall is caused by a deterioration in services, which have actually been improving."