Chaos for commuters as track fire at Charing Cross and signalling problems cause hours of delay misery

One platform at Charing Cross was shut down by a track fire
Southeastern
Eleanor Rose2 July 2018

Commuters were hit with travel misery after signalling problems as well as a track fire closed down two platforms at Charing Cross.

Anybody travelling to and from the station was told to expect disruptions including cancellations and delays until 10.30pm after signalling failures compounded the chaos.

"We have been advise of a signalling problem between Shortlands and Bromley South affecting trains from London towards Kent. This may result in delays and short notice alterations," said Southeastern on Twitter.

The rail firm added: "Platform 4 at Charing Cross is also out of use because of a small fire under the track. Staff are on site and need to isolate the electrical current to be able to extinguish the fire."

Smoke could be seen rising from a patch of track in pictures posted to social media.

Passengers meanwhile took to Twitter to complain, with one man writing: "Chaos at Charing Cross. Again."

Another person desperately wondered: "Do you think I'll actuallly get to Charlton tonight from Charing Cross?!"

Southeastern said it has now resolved the signalling failure between Shortlands and Bromley South, however passengers are advised to check before they travel as disruption was still ongoing.

Rail tickets were being accepted for journeys at London terminal stations on the Underground at no extra cost to help commuters complete their journey.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT