This morning’s commuter chaos on the Elizabeth line was caused a power outage after some lineside cables were stolen, Network Rail has revealed.
Both rail passengers and commuters on the Elizabeth line faced severe delays this morning following a points failure at Slough, with disruptions at Paddington station expected to continue until 3pm.
But it was later revealed that the reason for the slowdown was not due to a technical failure but an act of petty crime.
A Network Rail spokesperson said in a statement: “Trains to and from London Paddington this morning were disrupted after the theft of lineside cables caused a power outage.
“Our teams attended the site and were able to restore the power at 9.10am, with trains able to run as normal from around 9.20am.”
They added: “We work with the British Transport Police to tackle cable theft on the railway and with our train operator colleagues to reduce the impact of those thefts on passengers.
“Not only is it disruptive to both passengers and freight services and costs the taxpayer millions of pounds a year; it is extremely dangerous – with thousands of volts of electricity running through cables posing fatal risks to perpetrators.”
Delays to both Network Rail and the Elizabeth Line were caused by the theft of lineside cables, a spokesperson has revealed(Image: Lee Thomas)