TfL ‘can’t rule out’ Thor’s hammer as cause of huge London Overground delays
Travel chaos hit London Overground commuters today as the service suffered suspensions due to a track obstruction.
Londoners coming into the city were forced to find alternative routes with no service between Highbury & Islington and New Cross, Clapham Junction, West Croydon and Crystal Palace.
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Transport for London (TfL) blamed “an obstruction on the track” at Surrey Quays for the problems.
It told commuters to use alternative routes, with tickets accepted on Southern, Southeastern and South Western Railway train services.
Even London Overground’s social media managers didn’t know the nature of the problem.
Such was the extent of the delays that one user wondered whether the obstruction was Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir, which nobody but the most worthy (Thor – played by Chris Hemsworth, pictured) can possibly move.
The service jokingly replied: “I can’t rule out Thor’s Hammer as exact details of the obstruction haven’t been made available to us yet.”
Engineers were on site dealing with the issue, TfL confirmed, but it was unable to advise a timescale to fix the problems.
Predictably, frustrated commuters turned to Twitter to vent their anger.
“London Overground messed up my journey today differently,” Hannah Wildes wrote.
When London Overground asked if Cam Mitchell completed his journey alright after a 30-minute wait at Dalston for a train , he replied: “I didn’t really no. I was an hour late for work, and no station announcements.
“Didn’t really appreciate it to be honest. This happens far too often and I don’t see skipping stations as appropriate. But hey, I’m just a passenger.”
Lung doctor Adam tweeted: “Thanks for just screwing over your customers and my patients as Im now late to clinic.
“A customer alarm making you 3 minutes late doesnt justify you dumping everyone off the train and carrying onto another stop. What a joke!”
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Meanwhile, Twitter user Daniel Sarno complained of a 20-minute wait for a train at Clapham High Street.
“No information on the boards, no announcement, no staff to ask, no online status update,” he said.