Trespasser on track causes commuter delays

A trespasser on the track caused major disruption to mainline rail commuter services from the South Coast into London today.

Brighton line services into Victoria, the Gatwick Express and through-London First Capital Connect (FCC) trains suffered delays of up to 45 minutes.

Trains came to a stop after reports of somebody on the track between Horley and Redhill causing early services to stack up behind one another.

Delays continued into the peak.

On the Tube, the District, Hammersmith & City and Northern line services were delayed due to signal failures.

The District line was suspended eastbound between Plaistow and Upminster due to the signal problem at Barking.

This also halted Hammersmith & City (H&C) line trains between Moorgate and Barking.

Services resumed on both lines in time for the peak but severe delays continued on the H&C with minor delays on the District.

Early Northern line trains were delayed between Camden Town and High Barnet due to a signal failure at East Finchley.

Central line services were suspended between Newbury Park and Grange Hill via Hainault for the first of 12 days of planned engineering upgrade work.

Fog caused disruption to flights at London City Airport for the third successive day.

Though not as bad as disruption earlier in the week early flights to Frankfurt, Zurich and Basel were cancelled.