East London tube Fire disrupts District and Hammersmith & City
UNDERGROUND services east of Whitechapel hit by a trackside signal blaze in East London won’t be back to normal until Wednesday. Engineers have been working round-the-clock to repair damage on the District and Hammersmith & City lines
UNDERGROUND services east of Whitechapel hit by a trackside signal blaze in East London won't be back to normal until Wednesday, say transport chiefs.
Engineers have been working round-the-clock to repair damage to cables on the District and Hammersmith & City lines.
But LU does not anticipate normal services for another two days, it revealed this-morning.
The disruption follows the cable fire and power loss at Barking station on Friday, which hit Hammersmith & City trains between Whitechapel and Barking and District services between Plaistow and Dagenham East, which had to be suspended.
The fire destroyed dozens of cables first laid down 50 years ago, affecting all signals and traction east of Whitechapel. The heat was so intense that cables and equipment melted.
Specialist London Undergound engineers were called in to hand trace the cable routes and splice in hundreds of yards of new cabling. They have been able to run a reduced service between Whitechapel and Plaistow and between Upminster and Dagenham East, while a bus replacement service is operating between Plaistow and Dagenham East.
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All services on the District are affected and operating at a reduced capacity, with a knock-on effect on the Circle operating without the branch between Edgware Road to Hammersmith.
Passengers are being advised to use alternatives such as the Central Line the DLR. Underground tickets are also being accepted on buses and main-line trains into Liverpool Street and Fenchurch Street.
