Chaos! Grass Fire Near Paddington Cancels Heathrow Trains

London commuters faced significant disruption on Saturday as a grass fire erupted near a train track in the Paddington area, leading to widespread cancellations and delays for services heading to Heathrow Airport and beyond. The blaze caused a crucial electricity supply failure, effectively blocking all railway lines between Paddington and the airport.

Both the Heathrow Express and Great Western Railway (GWR) confirmed that services would be severely impacted for the remainder of the evening.

Passengers bound for Heathrow were advised to seek alternative routes, including the Piccadilly line or local and London buses.

However, even the Piccadilly line experienced its own set of challenges with severe delays due to an earlier unrelated incident involving a trespasser at Hammersmith.

The London Fire Brigade responded swiftly to the incident near Scrubs Lane, North Kensington, deploying six fire engines and approximately 40 firefighters. The fire, which was reported shortly after 4:10 pm, also necessitated the evacuation of around 380 passengers from a stranded Elizabeth Line train. Images shared on social media showed large plumes of smoke rising from the affected area, illustrating the severity of the situation.

The Elizabeth line was partially suspended, specifically between Paddington and Heathrow terminals four and five, and between Paddington and Reading, with severe delays across its entire network. GWR services to Reading were also cancelled, with some trains terminating early. To mitigate the inconvenience, GWR announced that tickets purchased for Saturday would be valid for travel on Sunday at no additional cost.

Travel authorities urged passengers to allow extra time for their journeys and check for updates.

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