Track fault causes Victoria line chaos

Thousands of commuters suffered disrupted journeys today due to a serious track fault on the Victoria line at Stockwell.

The line, used by 550,000 passengers a day, had to be closed completely between Brixton and Victoria.

This caused long delays during the morning peak period, with knock-on disruption throughout the rest of the line to Walthamstow Central.

Maintenance of the Victoria line is the responsibility of private sector consortium Metronet.

Commuters were forced onto already crowded buses and mainline train services. And there was no respite for Victoria line users when they tried to switch to the Northern line to continue their journeys.

Northern line services were also suffering long delays due to a severe signal failure at King's Cross.

The line has suffered repeated delays due to signal and track failures and problems with the cab radio system.