Rail passengers have faced travel chaos after services near one of London’s busiest stations were majorly disrupted when nearby overhead power cables were damaged.
Services were cancelled shortly before midday on Sunday after the collapse of wires between Paddington station and Hayes and Harlington in west London.
Trains between one of the capitals major rail hubs and Oxford and Maidenhead were severely disrupted due to the problem.
Great Western Railway, the main train operator out of Paddington, warned disruption was likely to continue all evening.
With about 10 trains thought to have been left stranded, some people were reportedly abandoning their trains and making an escape along the tracks.
Heathrow Express, which runs the direct train to the UK’s busiest airport, said it sent a rescue service to take passengers back to Paddington where a ‘care team’ took them on to buses to complete their journey.
Its service resumed after being cancelled for much of Sunday.
British Transport Police (BTP) took to warning desperate passengers who found themselves trapped onboard to wait to be safely evacuated.
BTP Paddington tweeted: “Emergency services are on route inc @networkrail. Please do not leave trapped trains, remain on board. Rail tracks are very dangerous.”
Earlier this month, rail passengers on the same line faced major disruption after a test train damaged power cables near Paddington.
Transport for London tweeted: “Due to damage to overhead electrical wires there is currently no service between London Paddington and Heathrow. Engineers are working hard to fix the damage but disruption is expected to last until the end of the day.”