Waterloo delays: Commuters battle transport chaos as snow hits London

Huge crowds: Commuters faced huge crowds at Waterloo
Twitter/Emily Tye

Londoners faced travel chaos during rush hour as snow lashed the capital.

Frustrated commuters faced huge crowds and long delays on South West Trains services at Waterloo as Canary Wharf was evacuated due to a flood on Thursday.

Central Line passengers were hit with delays as a faulty train at Holborn led to closures at Bank and Oxford Circus Tube stations.

A broken down train between Kentish Town and Cricklewood sparked further chaos for Thameslink passengers travelling between London St Pancras and Bedford.

Commuter chaos: Londoners faced huge crowds at Holborn
twitter/John Brunner

Commuter Emily Tye was unable to travel home to Byfleet in Surrey and described scenes at the station as “bedlam”.

She added that she had been forced to meet a friend for dinner in central London until chaos at the station eased.

The 32-year-old market researcher told the Standard: “Pretty much every train was either delayed or cancelled and only one or two trains were boarding.”

Charity worker James Walsh, 33, passed through the main concourse on his way to Waterloo East.

He said the area at the top of the escalator became “chaotic and dangerous”.

Mr Walsh added: “(When people were) using the escalators to get to the main concourse, the overcrowding at the top meant those coming up had nowhere to go with more commuters following up.”

Rebecca Brown wrote: “What the hell is going on at Waterloo? I've been stuck here for 40 minutes now.”

Another user added: “Waterloo station this evening is a nightmare.”

While a third wrote: “For those still at Waterloo. If you manage to get on a train, don't expect to go far.”

Severe delays: Commuters battled enormous crowds
@JamesJWalsh

Kitty tweeted: “Thank you Holborn tube for being so hellish and infuriating.”

The demo sparked rush hour gridlock across the capital as snow fell amid severe weather warnings from the Met Office.

In south-east London motorists face traffic chaos in Biggin Hill, Bromley, and Purley in Croydon as snow covered the roads.

Traffic chaos: Drivers faced issues on the roads in Purley, Croydon
Gregory Hall

TfL apologised for delays on the Central Line and added that stations were closed to prevent overcrowding.

A statement posted by South West Trains on Twitter read: "A broken down train at Wimbledon earlier has led to a queue of suburban trains trying to reach Waterloo.

"Departures from Waterloo are being delayed by up to 15 minutes at present."

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