Train chaos as rail companies out of London station cancelled after ‘incident’

Train companies working into and out of London have been thrown into chaos this night (January 20) after an incident on the railway line between Paddington Station and Reading.

Great Western Railway stated emergency companies had been referred to as to attend an incident on the road this night that left all tracks “blocked”, forcing operators to cancel all companies working the route. 

The rail operators tweeted: “Due to emergency services dealing with an incident between Reading and London Paddington, all lines are blocked.

“Train companies working to and from these stations will probably be cancelled, delayed by as much as 90 minutes or terminated at and began again from Reading.”

All trains, including London’s Elizabeth line services, running on the route have either been cancelled or severely delayed.

Officials are yet to clarify the nature of the incident, but several eyewitnesses have taken to social media to describe the chaos on the rails. 

Multiple people claiming to be passengers on board the train have reported the vehicle being “hit”, with some describing sounds of screeching metal and a “scent of burnt rubber”. 

One person claiming to be a passenger responding to GWR on Twitter said they heard what sounded like “metallic building falling on the prepare”. 

They wrote: “I’m within the prepare. It seemed like a metallic building falling on the prepare. The scratching was very noisy and we acquired a scent of burnt rubber within the prepare.”

Another passenger who said the train was “hit” said their carriage had “energy and lights”, and added that the “prepare will not be broken”.

In a service update, Transport for London said services between Reading and Maidenhead have been cancelled because of a “casualty on the observe”.

The statement read: “No service between Reading and Maidenhead whereas emergency companies cope with a casualty on the observe.

“No service between Paddington and Abbey Wood due to planned engineering work. Good service on the rest of the line.”

The newest delays on the route observe extra points on GWR and Elizabeth Line companies working to and from Paddington final week. 

Services suffered cancellations and delays for a number of days because of a damaged rail between Paddington and Reading.