OLE failures prevent mourners from reaching capital
NO trains ran in or out of London Paddington station on the day of the state funeral for Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, causing severe disruption for mourners who had planned to see the funeral procession.
People travelling to Windsor for the funeral on September 19 were also affected by the cancellations.
Lines between London and Reading were blocked from 0630 on the morning of the funeral due to extensively damaged overhead wires near Hayes & Harlington.
RAIL understands that a pantograph on a GWR service somehow tangled with a wire, and tore almost two miles of overhead lines across all four tracks. An investigation is under way.
Great Western Railway, Elizabeth Line and Heathrow Express services were all affected.
Barry Boffy, from Bristol, was an invited guest at the state funeral in Westminster Abbey. He was on a train to Paddington when passengers were told they had to disembark at Langley station near Slough and “make your own way”.
The former head of inclusion and diversity at British Transport Police was unable to get to the Abbey in time.
He told the BBC: “I actually do feel really disappointed that I missed the service. It would have been a once-in-a-lifetime event. The first time I have ever been invited, and it’s unlikely I will be invited to something in the future.”
He added: “The knowledge that I have been invited is privilege enough, but it’s not the same as being there with everyone else, and experiencing it.”
On one stranded train, the sound of the choir at Westminster Abbey could be heard through the carriages as mourners watched the service on their phones instead.
Bev Falfreman, from
Okehampton in Devon, said she was “absolutely gutted” about not reaching the capital in time.
“This was the only thing I wanted to do,” she said.
Gabby Thomas, who travelled from Castle Cary in Somerset with her father, said: “My dad is a former naval officer and he wanted to see the procession. It’s just about being there. We were meant to arrive in Paddington at about 0830. It’s a typical British thing to happen.”
Another passenger said it took five and a half hours to reach Paddington from Castle Cary, instead of the planned one hour and 40 minutes.
Passengers on another train to Paddington were told by a member of staff: “My sincerest apologies for the delays on such an important day for the country.”
Network Rail said six trains were trapped by the failure, which left
wires strewn across the tracks. Passengers were stuck on board for up to three hours. It was evening before the last train was towed away.
Network Rail spokesman Toby Elliott said: “This could not possibly have come at a worse time. We are very sorry, particularly for those who were heading to Her Majesty’s funeral.
“A Great Western train pulled down some overhead power cables. Unfortunately, it caused substantial damage, not just on the railway line it was running on, but across all the tracks that run between here and London. We’ve got almost two miles of wiring to reinstall.”
Network Rail advised passengers to travel on the much slower South Western Railway route between Waterloo and Reading, where GWR services were starting and ending. Crowd control measures were required at Waterloo, where the Reading trains were already busy.
Passengers at Windsor returning from watching the funeral procession had to travel to Waterloo via Windsor and Eton Riverside. GWR was able to run a limited shuttle service between Slough and Reading.
GWR services between Reading and Newbury were also halted or diverted during the morning due to a separate incident.
An extra train had left Penzance in Cornwall at 0300, but terminated at Reading due to the damage to overhead wires. Local media reported the train had departed Cornwall without any passengers on board.
The lines in and out of Paddington were closed for a second night on September 20, with service ending at 2200 for repairs to continue.
But Network Rail said there were few other problems, with total passenger numbers lower than on a normal commuting Monday.