Stratford station fire leaves 46 train services cancelled for travellers this weekend

Travellers are experiencing "major disruption" this morning after a trackside fire broke out at London's Stratford station with 46 services cancelled.

London Fire Brigade said eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters were called late yesterday evening to a brush fire in Stratford, the current seventh-busiest station in Great Britain.

In the aftermath, all train services between Essex and London remain cancelled this morning, after engineers to switch off power to overhead electric wires for safety reasons.

Forty-six services have been cancelled, delayed, or revised across a wide area of the network.

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Elizabeth line services remain suspended between Whitechapel and Ilford, while Greater Anglia has advised passengers not to travel on routes to, from or through Stratford until later today.

Services between London Liverpool Street and Shenfield via Stratford are completely suspended, while major Greater Anglia routes are affected.

These include overground intercity services between London and Norwich, as well as lines linking Liverpool Street with Ipswich, Clacton, Colchester Town, Braintree, and Southend Victoria.

Routes from Stratford to Bishop’s Stortford and Meridian Water, along with the Elizabeth line and Mildmay line, are also impacted.

The disruption is expected to continue until later this morning, with normal services resumption subject to change.

The incident was declared "under control" by emergency services by 10pm yesterday, as crews worked through the night to dampen hotspots and monitor for any flare-ups.

Station Commander Scott Thorpe said the fire was "predominantly located within an area of grass and shrubbery that was surrounded on all sides by railway tracks."

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"Firefighters have worked hard to bring this fire under control as swiftly as possible; however we expect crews to remain on scene over the coming hours."

LFB is still asking members of the public to avoid the area, as some 1,400 passengers were evacuated from trains that could not enter the station.

Train operator Greater Anglia said: "The incident involves a substantial lineside fire adjacent to Stratford station, requiring power to the overhead electric wires to be switched off."

The incident has resulted in all lines being blocked through Stratford.

"The fire brigade, British Transport Police and Network Rail response teams are on site, but for everyone's safety all lines are blocked and there are no trains running."

Elizabeth line customers are able to use their tickets at no extra cost on London Buses and London Underground.

It is not yet clear whether the hot weather was responsible for the blaze.

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