London travel news LIVE: Waterloo rush hour chaos as trains cancelled after Wimbledon

Waterloo Station has been hit with travel chaos after a trespass incident forced scores of trains to be cancelled.

South Western Railway and Thameslink services have been hit with major disruption expected until the end of the day.

All lines through Wimbledon were blocked as emergency services responded to the scene. The lines have since reopened.

Rush hour services on South Western Railway from London Waterloo have been hard hit, with commuters being told to get taxis instead of trying to board affected trains.

Thameslink services between St Albans and Sutton are also severely disrupted.

Live updates below.

Live coverage ends

Wednesday 15 May 2024 21:51 , Josh Salisbury

Our live coverage is now ending, thank you for joining us. We will be back again tomorrow with all the latest travel news.

Commuter: I was sat on train for hour before it was cancelled

Wednesday 15 May 2024 20:49 , Josh Salisbury

Angie Pitt, who is based in Leatherhead, Surrey, said she has been at Waterloo since 3.45pm and was on a train for an hour before it was cancelled.

The 50-year-old said: “It’s a bit fraught on the concourse, a recent announcement told us, ‘we simply do not have enough space to get you all home’.

“I was on the 1554 to Leatherhead, I was hoping to be home by 4.45.

“Feeling frustrated and hot.

“I’ve got a seat and some snacks, trains are starting to leave now so I’ll sit it out. I’m optimistic.”

Minor delays on Northern Line

Wednesday 15 May 2024 19:58 , Daniel Keane

There are minor delays on the Northern Line due to shortage of trains, TfL has said.

Pictured: Waterloo Station sees chaotic scenes

Wednesday 15 May 2024 19:05 , Josh Salisbury

Waterloo Station ‘closed’ amid travel woes

Wednesday 15 May 2024 18:50 , Josh Salisbury

Waterloo Station has been forced to close its main doors amid the travel woes, passengers have claimed.

Pictures appeared to show the station’s front doors closed and crowds gathering outside amid similarly large crowds on the concourse.

Waterloo hit hard by travel chaos

Wednesday 15 May 2024 18:45 , Josh Salisbury

Commuters are being warned to avoid Waterloo after a series of cancelled trains sparked travel chaos.

One passenger wrote online: “Yet again like trying to get last chopper out of ‘Nam.”

Another added: “The front doors have been locked to stop people getting into the station. Multiple train cancellations mean the concourse is rammed.”

Get taxis instead of trying to board trains, commuters told

Wednesday 15 May 2024 17:28 , Josh Salisbury

Commuters have been told to get taxis and claim the expense back instead of trying to board trains over the South Western Railway disruption.

In a message to customers, company said: “Due to large scale disruption across the South Western Railway network customers are authorised to source their own taxi and claim them back through the customer services team between London Waterloo and Basingstoke.”

The severe disruption is expected until the end of the day.

Major disruption to trains in south-west London

Wednesday 15 May 2024 16:34 , Josh Salisbury

Trains in south-west London have been hit with major disruption as emergency services deal with a trespass incident in the Wimbledon area.

All lines through Wimbledon are blocked, affecting South Western Railway services and Thameslink services.

Disruption is expected until at least 7pm.

The affected services are:

South Western Railway between London Waterloo and Hampton Court / Shepperton / Chessington South / Woking / Alton / Dorking / Guildford / Basingstoke / Yeovil Junction / Exeter St Davids / Portsmouth & Southsea / Portsmouth Harbour / Weymouth

Thameslink between St Albans City and Sutton.

Southeastern plans new fleet of trains to lure commuters back

Wednesday 15 May 2024 15:26 , Jacob Phillips

Passengers on one of London’s biggest commuter networks are set to benefit from a multimillion-pound new fleet of trains — but will likely have to wait until the end of the decade to board them.

Southeastern, which operates out of Victoria, Charing Cross and Cannon Street, hopes the investment in its “metro” network in south-east London and Kent will help lure more people back onto the trains and into to the office.

The current fleet of “Networker” trains used on metro services to destinations such as Dartford, Sevenoaks, Grove Park and Gillingham was first introduced in 1992.Read the full story here.

Elizabeth Line hit by severe delays

Wednesday 15 May 2024 14:39 , Jacob Phillips

There are severe delays on the Elizabeth Line between Hayes & Harlington and Reading while Transport for London deal with a trespasser on the track at Maidenhead.

Severe delays hit Central Line

Wednesday 15 May 2024 13:19 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

The Central Line has been hit with severe delays eastbound, while TfL deals with a faulty train at Marble Arch.

Southeastern and Thameslink disruption ends

Wednesday 15 May 2024 12:48 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

The disruption that has been affecting Southeastern and Thameslink trains all day today is now over, says National Rail.

Network Rail apologises to passengers over disruption

Wednesday 15 May 2024 10:31 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

A Network Rail spokesperson has said: “We’d like to apologise to Southeastern and Thameslink customers for the disruption to their journeys this morning.

“Our engineers are currently in the process of fixing a problem with a set of points at Charlton – the moveable sections of rail that allow trains to switch from one track to another. We’re expecting that repair work to take about an hour.

“As a result, Southeastern trains are delayed by up to 10 minutes, while Thameslink trains between Rainham and London Bridge, London St Pancras International, and Luton will be diverted between Dartford and London Bridge, meaning that a number of stations won’t be served until further notice”.

Southeastern and Thameslink disruption now expected until this afternoon

Wednesday 15 May 2024 10:18 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

The disruption to Southeastern and Thameslink services caused by a signalling fault at Charlton is now expected to last until 1pm, National Rail says.

Thameslink trains between Rainham and London Bridge, London St Pancras International, and Luton are being diverted between Dartford and London Bridge.

Services are not stopping at Slade Green, Abbey Wood, Plumstead, Woolwich Arsenal, Charlton, Westcombe Park, Maze Hill, Greenwich or Deptford.

Southeastern services between Dartford / Gravesend / Lee / Slade Green and London Cannon Street are also being impacted, as are Cannon Street circular services.

National Rail says the line via Charlton will be blocked from 10am until around 11.15am while staff investigate. During that time, services will be diverted via Bexleyheath or Sidcup.

Bakerloo Line delays end

Wednesday 15 May 2024 10:10 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Delays on the Bakerloo Line caused by an unattended bag that sparked a security alert have now ended, says TfL. There is a good service on the line.

Severe delays on Bakerloo Line following security alert

Wednesday 15 May 2024 09:02 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

The earlier security alert at Waterloo – caused by an unattended bag on a train – is now causing severe delays on the Bakerloo Line.

The delays are Stonebridge Park and Harrow & Wealdstone.

Waterloo security incident was caused by unattended bag

Wednesday 15 May 2024 08:50 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

TfL tells us the security incident at Waterloo which caused the Bakerloo Line to be part-suspended earlier was due to an unattended bag found on a train.

The service was stopped for a few minutes so staff and British Transport Police officers could investigate.

“It turned out to be a lost laptop bag,” said a TfL spokesperson.

“The Bakerloo is operating with minor delays, but we’re expecting it to be back to a good service shortly.”

Bakerloo Line running again, but with delays

Wednesday 15 May 2024 08:34 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

The Bakerloo Line is no longer suspended, but there are still minor delays due to the earlier “security alert” at Waterloo.

The nature of the alert is not clear, but we’ve asked TfL for more information.

A train shortage is also causing minor delays on the Northern Line, but other than that there appears to be a good service across the Tube, Overground and DLR network.

Crash causing long delays on M25 in Hertfordshire

Wednesday 15 May 2024 08:32 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

A crash is caysing long delays on the M25 anticlockwise from junction 27 at the M11 to junction 25 at the A10 (Enfield).

One lane is closed a mile after junction 25, says travel monitoring website Inrix.

Bakerloo Line part-suspended due to security alert

Wednesday 15 May 2024 08:22 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

The Bakerloo Line is part-suspended, says TfL.

No service is running between Piccadilly Circus and Elephant & Castle due to a “security alert”.

Southeastern plans new fleet of trains to lure commuters back

Wednesday 15 May 2024 08:16 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

In good news for Southeastern passengers this morning, as the firm has announced it is due to introduce a multimillion-pound new fleet of trains.

Unfortunately passengers will likely have to wait until the end of the decade to board them.

But the firm hopes the investment in its “metro” network in south-east London and Kent will help lure more people back onto the trains and into to the office.

Read more from our Transport Editor Ross Lydall here.

Passengers stuck on trains amid signal failure

Wednesday 15 May 2024 08:08 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Southeastern passenger Mark McQuade said on X he has been stuck on a train at Woolwich Dockyard for an hour due, to the signal failure that is disrupting rail services this morning.

“You might want to update the driver, who while being very apologetic has advised they have no idea what’s going on apart from the points failure,” he responded to Southeastern’s tweets about the ongoing issue.

“I’m on the train stuck at Woolwich Dockyard and have been here for 1 hour.The rail firm replied: “Sorry for the delay to your journey. We will get a message to the driver to keep him updated.”

Signal failure causing commuter misery for Southeastern and Thameslink passengers

Wednesday 15 May 2024 08:05 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Commuters are facing travel misery this morning as a signal fault closed a key rail line into London.

Southeastern and Thameslink trains are expected to be disrupted until 10am at the earliest due to the signalling issue at Charlton.Trains running between Woolwich Arsenal and Greenwich or Lewisham may be cancelled, delayed by up to an hour, or diverted, National Rail warns.

Southeastern services between Dartford, Gravesend, Lee, Slade Green and London Cannon Street are affected, as are Cannon Street circular services.

Thameslink services between Rainham and Bedford, Luton, and West Hampstead Thameslink are also impacted.