Heathrow rail services disrupted as tunnel closes

Railway services to Heathrow Airport are being severely disrupted following the closure of a tunnel for safety reasons, Network Rail says.

Elizabeth line services between Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow Terminals 4 and 5 were suspended until 11:00 BST while Heathrow Express trains have been reduced by 50% with just two trains an hour from London Paddington.

Network Rail says "major disruption is expected until the end of the day" because of a water leak limiting services to one line and that tickets will be accepted on the Piccadilly line and buses 105, 278, 350 and 482.

Heathrow Express is not currently accepting Elizabeth line tickets, which has infuriated some passengers at Paddington.

Louie, who is flying to Spain, told BBC London: "I feel annoyed. I've had three delays.

"I've had to jump from train from train to train to try to get here to get a ticket to Heathrow and I can't get there.

"I'm going to miss my flight at this rate. It's a nightmare."

Suki, who is travelling to Los Angeles from Abbey Wood, described it as a "journey from hell".

She added: "Very very frustrating - I'm not happy at all."

Gavin, who works at Heathrow and has just had a root canal said the delays were even more painful as he would be late for work.

He said: "It always happens on this line that there are the signalling problems.

"It's probably every other week there's a problem, either on the Elizabeth line or this one."

A limited number of services were added to the Elizabeth line timetable for late Monday morning.

Railway services to Gatwick Airport are also disrupted because of a fire on the line near Purley in south London.

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk