Power outage causes mess on London trains ( 2003-08-29 08:57) (Agencies)
Power went out in parts of the capital and
southeast England on Thursday, bringing much of the London Underground and many
regional trains to a halt and stranding hundreds of thousands of rush hour
commuters.
Commuters gather at London Bridge Station
in central London during a power outage, Aug 28, 2003. A half-hour power
cut paralyzed London with up to half a million commuters trapped in travel
chaos that hit the evening rush hour.
[Reuters]
Electricity was cut for about 40 minutes before it came back on at about 7
p.m., said EDF Energy, which handles power transmission for the affected areas
of London. The outages appeared to be confined to south London and Kent, a
county southeast of the city.
Overland train service was temporarily halted in those areas and trains were
canceled and delayed throughout the evening. Problems on London's aging subway
system were also widespread and long-lasting.
A spokesman for the Underground said 60 percent of the subway system was
halted at the height of the evening rush hour, including the majority of
services in central London. Workers evacuated affected trains and stations but
it would take "some time" to return service to normal, London Underground said.
Some subways began running later in the evening.
At London's Victoria Station, boards listing train schedules went blank and
people stood outside in the rain waiting for the gated-off subway entrances to
reopen. Others squeezed onto jammed double-decker buses.
London Mayor Ken Livingstone told Sky News about 500,000 commuters were
affected on the Underground and on train lines.
He also told Channel 4 News that up to 150,000 people lost power, and he
demanded an investigation. Some hospitals were forced to rely on backup
generators.
"There's no indication of any terrorist involvement, but it is an absolutely
horrendous position because it has caught the rush hour," he said.
The outage was far less severe than the Aug. 14 blackout in the United States
and Canada, which affected 50 million people.
Jenny White, 20, was stuck outside Victoria station in south London, trying
to get home to Longfield, Kent.
"I've been here for ages now," she said. "The queue for the cabs is about a
mile long and there's nowhere I can get a bus, there are so many people out
there."
Area pubs were packed with stranded commuters.
"It's quite amazing that a big city like London can be brought to a
standstill like this," teacher Valerie Chalancon said.
EDF spokesman Gareth Wynn said the power problem originated in two
high-voltage lines belonging to the national power grid that help supply the
Wimbledon area of southwest London.
It was unlikely the problem was caused by sabotage, he said.
Ann Gibson of National Grid, which runs the national power network, said
electricity was restored to the lines where the problem began.
British Transport Police said the outage affected all of south London's major
overland train stations — including Victoria, London Bridge and Waterloo — and
temporarily halted all main lines in the area.
"Things are now starting to move slowly," a spokesman said.
Kevin Groves, a spokesman for Network Rail, which operates Britain's rail
infrastructure, said power was cut along tracks stretching 20-30 miles south of
London.
The police were contacting London Underground to make sure there were no
people on the tracks before reactivating the lines.
London's Metropolitan Police said 270 sets of traffic lights went out around
south London, but all came back on.
