Delays on Piccadilly line after ‘significant leaf fall’ suspends trains

More than 36,000 Blue Badges have been stolen in London between January 2015 and November 2024, police data shows.

Haringey was the worst borough for the crime, with more than 6,000 badges stolen during that time period.

Beckenham and Penge MP Liam Conlon said the thieves are ‘targeting disabled people’ and ‘stealing their independence’.

London Councils calculated the cost of losing one of the permits to a disabled person is at least £6,000 in increased parking charges, plus the impact of reporting and replacing it, The Standard reports.

Read our exclusive interview with Sadiq Khan here:

Sure, everyone has heard of the festive displays at Oxford Circus and Hyde Park, but do you really want to face those crowds?

TfL has released a festive map showing 19 festive attractions happening outside of zone 1, to make avoiding massive queues a bit easier.

It features the Glide ice rink at Battersea Power Station, Wick Wonderland in Hackney Wick, and the Winter Festival at Brent Cross.

Check out the map below – you may need to open the image in another tab or window to zoom in and see all of the details.

A faulty train between Gospel Oak and Stratford is impacting London Overground services which run between the stations.

While the faulty train has been removed, services could still face cancellations or delays.

Knock-on delays and overcrowding has compounded this issue, with the disruption expected to last until midday.

It’s affecting all trains which run between Richmond or Clapham Junction and Stratford.

There’s been a fault with the signalling system at Ashchurch for Tewkerbury which has blocked all lines.

Trains in the area could be cancelled or delayed, and the disruption is expected to last throughout the rest of the morning.

It’s affecting the following services:

• CrossCountry between Bristol Temple Meads and Birmingham New Street / Manchester Piccadilly
• CrossCountry between Plymouth and Derby / Leeds / York / Newcastle / Edinburgh / Aberdeen
• CrossCountry between Cardiff Central and Nottingham
• Great Western Railway between Bristol Temple Meads / Salisbury and Worcester Foregate Street
• Great Western Railway between Bristol Temple Meads and Worcester Shrub Hill

Passengers heading to Gatwick Airport should brace for disruption on trains after a safety inspection of the track.

Gatwick Express services have been suspended until further notice, the operator said.

It said on social media: ‘There may be further alterations and possible cancellations of services until this track inspection can be completed.’

Here is what to do if you have a ticket and you need to travel.

• Use your ticket for no extra cost on alternative Southern and Thameslink services
• Tickets accepted on London Underground via any reasonable route between London Terminals

Drivers have been warned of long delays and a lane closure on the M5 near Gloucester after a crash involving two lorries.

The smash happened on the southbound carriageway between J11 and J9.

The incident has caused around seven miles of congestion which means journeys will take around an hour longer than usual.

One lane out of three remains closed for the clean-up and recovery work, the traffic analyst Inrix says.

Avanti West Coast and London Northwestern Railway passengers travelling towards Euston may encounter delays after a broken-down freight train is wreaking havoc on the route.

While the line has now reopened from Milton Keynes to Euston after the train got stuck at Bletchley, trains at these stations could still be revised or delayed by up to 20 minutes as the service recovers.

The issue is expected to last until 8.30am.

Here are the affected routes and operators.

• Avanti West Coast between Edinburgh / Glasgow Central / Lancaster / Blackpool North / Liverpool Lime Street / Manchester Piccadilly / Holyhead / Chester / Wolverhampton / Birmingham New Street and London Euston

• London Northwestern Railway between Crewe / Birmingham New Street / Coventry / Rugby / Northampton / Milton Keynes Central / Tring and London Euston

If you’re travelling on the Elizabeth line during rush hour, prepare for severe delays.

The busy line is seeing severe delays between Shenfield and Gidea Park, while the stretch between Whitechapel and Gidea Park has minor delays due to a Network Rail track fault at Gidea Park which engineers are fixing.

Trains between Romford and Shenfield may be cancelled, revised or delayed by up to 25 minutes, National Rail warned.

The section of the line between Hayes & Harlington and reading also has minor delays because of a broken rail at Slough.

National Rail said the disruption between London Paddington and Slough is expected until 10am.

The M6 is the longest motorway in Britain – and today, it might feel especially long.

A broken down vehicle has led to massive logjams, with drivers warned of an hour and a half delays against traffic.

While on the M5, drivers are being warned to brace themselves of 40 minutes.

Motorists on the M5 aren’t exactly faring any better. Vehicles have piled up so much there are delays of 30 minutes on the tarmac.

The same goes for the M62, where a ‘road traffic condition’ is causing 30 minute delays that likely won’t ease up until 9am, according to National Highways.

Two lines will be giving London Underground commuters headaches today.

For one, the Piccadilly line is both partly closed and being rattled by minor delays because of ‘significant’ leaf fall between Rayners Lane and Uxbridge.

While those heading out to Heathrow for flights probably shouldn’t take the Piccadilly line to the airport right now as there are minor delays between it and Acton Town ‘due to a shortage of trains’, TfL says.

Between Shenfield and Gidea Park there are severe delays whole TfL officials fix a fault with a track.