Tube delays: Commuters endure rush hour misery amid Northern Line delays
Commuters suffered a miserable rush hour commute this morning, with the Northern Line suspended along the Bank branch due to the same problem that caused huge delays yesterday.
A signal failure at Kennington meant there was no service running southbound between Camden Town and Kennington on the Bank branch of the Tube line.
Read more: Tube drivers get ear defenders for ‘screeching’ Northern Line
The problems began at around 6.30am after signal failures caused havoc on the Northern Line for much of yesterday too.
Transport for London (TfL) urged passengers to seek other routes, with tickets being accepted on local buses and Thameslink services too.
Severe delays affected the rest of the line as passengers bemoaned having to endure issues for the second day in a row.
Commuters responded with anger as they faced a struggle to make it to work on time.
One passenger, Doris Ko, told TfL to “sort it out” while Suraj said he was late for work again as a result.
Hafsa Issa-Salwe tweeted to complain it felt like there were problems “every single day”.
“Northern Line even outdone itself yesterday with two singal failures,” she tweeted.
Ana Isabel Dias simply said: “You are a joke!!!”
Another user, David Leete, complained that his last four Northern Line journeys have been plagued with delays.
“My last 4 journeys on the #NorthernLine have been suspended! Today AM rush hour, yesterday PM rush hour, yest AM rush hour, Sat midday. What are the odds of that? And more importantly, will I be refunded for having to take bus and being subsequently late?” he asked.
The Northern Line replied by admitting “it hasn’t been a great week for our line”.
Yesterday another Kennington signal failure meant there was no southbound service between Moorgate and Kennington, and no northbound service between Kennington and Charing Cross.
Read more: Commuters complain of overcrowding on Northern Line
The disruption became so bad that TfL closed several stations to avoid overcrowding, including Balham in south London.
TfL today urged commuters to “please avoid the Northern Line and use other routes if you can”.
But passengers travelling to Victoria were also affected after a derailed train caused huge delays and led to many train services being cancelled, including the Brighton line.
Gatwick Express train services were suspended and all Southern Railway trains were severely affected.