Train services to Heathrow Airport remained badly disrupted on Monday 7 September, with Transport for London warning of severe delays on the Elizabeth line and Great Western Railway (GWR) reporting cancellations, two days after a trackside fire near London Paddington damaged electrical equipment.
TfL said the Elizabeth line was experiencing severe delays between Heathrow Terminals 2&3 and Terminal 5, and separately between Hayes & Harlington and Reading, "while we fix equipment damaged by vandalism in the Kensal Green area," according to a live TfL status update reported by MyLondon. Elizabeth line trains are not running through to Heathrow Terminal 5, and GWR services are skipping Slough, Maidenhead and Twyford as a result, Metro reported, citing the operators.
The disruption stems from a fire that broke out beside the tracks near Scrubs Lane in North Kensington on Saturday 5 September, which cut the electricity supply and halted all Elizabeth line, GWR and Heathrow Express services between Paddington and Heathrow for several hours. Services had been reported back to normal on Sunday morning, but the damage caused fresh, more limited disruption when the working week began. London Fire Brigade told Metro its investigation team had been unable to determine the cause of Saturday's fire as of Monday afternoon, while GWR separately said a distinct case of "vandalism of railway equipment between Reading and London Paddington" meant fewer trains were able to run, with disruption on that stretch expected to last until the end of the day.
Heathrow Express between Paddington and