Charing Cross delays: Rush-hour chaos as Southeastern trains cancel half of services

Bronwen Weatherby4 February 2020

Commuters at Charing Cross were hit by fresh disruption on Tuesday evening as around half of all Southeastern trains in and out of London were cancelled.

It follows rush hour chaos this morning after a fault was found on a line in New Cross, south east London, and needed urgent repairs.

Trains into Charing Cross, which has been particularly badly affected, and Waterloo East were suspended so emergency works could be carried out and the disruption had a knock-on effect to services throughout the day.

In the evening, a number of people took to social media with pictures of huge crowds waiting to get the train home.

​Engineers repaired the track at around 8.15am but there are now speed restrictions in place which means 50 per cent of the services are unable to run.

Services have resumed but because of temporary speed restrictions in place, only half of the usual trains will run per hour.

People were crammed onto trains this morning
PA

It means only 50 per cent of scheduled trains will run from Charing Cross.

Some services, including ones to Dover and Ramsgate, will run to and from London Victoria or London Cannon Street.

The crack was described as "not an easy fix".
PA

There are fewer trains to Tunbridge Wells.

Southeastern Trains said: "Disruption is expected until the end of the day."

The repair needed was described by the rail provider as "not an easy fix..." however, many passengers remained furious with the company as they battled to get to work amidst overcrowded carriages and platforms.

Passenger Nick Cook tweeted and described the morning's events as a "national disgrace".

Another, freelance designer Ellie, 39, asked whether the company was doing enough to prevent cracks from appearing on the network.

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