More misery on the Circle line as fault halts all trains

Hundreds of thousands of Tube passengers had a miserable return to work today when the closure of a Tube line caused overcrowding and delays across central London.

The Circle line — already blighted by changes to its layout that have lengthened journeys — was shut by a major signal failure. It may not reopen in time for tomorrow's morning rush hour.

The Tube's worst-performing line collapsed after problems in the Aldgate area that also crippled the Hammersmith and City line, which was suspended between Moorgate and Barking with long delays on the rest of the line.

Howard Collins, London Underground's chief operating officer, said: "It is likely that there will be no service on either of these lines until tomorrow morning as works will be required overnight to repair the fault.

"We would like to apologise to passengers for the disruption to their journeys. Local buses will be accepting London Underground tickets and passengers are advised to seek alternative routes." Evening Standard revealed last month that average journey times were longer in the first four weeks since the introduction of a "lasso line" service on the Circle between Hammersmith and Edgware Road.

In addition, the number of trains in service and the distance they travelled have fallen, with rush hours worst affected There are only six Circle trains an hour, compared with seven previously. The line is used by about 220,000 passengers on a typical weekday.

Train drivers have criticised the new service, saying the problems have also affected the District line, which shares its southern section.

They say journey times between Ealing Broadway and Tower Hill — one of the busiest stretches of the District — have increased from 45 minutes to 50. They also report trains "bunching" with long waits at Aldgate, Barking and Earl's Court.

TfL said today's fault was caused by a "major computer failure". The problem is being linked to weekend engineering work.

On mainline trains, early morning and late evening services face disruption and cancellation for the remainder of the week because of engineering work. Network Rail has chosen the rest of the week for night engineering work saying fewer passengers travel than at other times of the year.

Journeys are being delayed by up to 80 minutes with buses replacing trains on some routes. Network Rail said Easter engineering work had been completed on time.