Chaos after Bank London Underground station closed during morning rush hour

Major delays on tube and rail networks after body found on tracks

The London Underground roundel (Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

A major underground station serving the City of London was closed during the morning rush-hour, prompting travel chaos.

Bank station was closed by transport bosses on Friday morning to "prevent overcrowding", Transport for London tweeted.

Huge crowds also formed at Waterloo and London Bridge stations, with delays across tube and rail networks, after a body was found on tracks near to Waterloo East station.

Trains were not stopping at the Bank, which serves the Central, Northern and Waterloo & City tube lines, and the District Light Railway.

The Waterloo & City lines, which runs solely between Bank and Waterloo, was closed.

Commuters posted images on social media of the ensuing travel chaos, with one reporting that they had queued for 40 minutes to get out of the station.

A signal failure at nearby London Bridge station contributed to delays - with the Jubilee Line partly closed for part of the rush hour.

The discovery of the body at Waterloo East causd overcrowding at Waterloo Station next door. Rail users of Southeastern services to London Bridge, Cannon Street and Charing Cross were also affected.

A spokeswoman for Southeastern said: "A body was discovered on the Metropolitan Reversible line (between Waterloo East & Cannon Street) early this morning, which meant that we had to close the up and down slow lines between Waterloo East and London Bridge whilst the police carried out their investigations.

"All lines were re-opened at 9:07am, service recovery measures are underway, and we hope to have full recovery by midday."

British Transport Police said they were called to a train line near Waterloo East shortly before 7.30am on Friday.

A man was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers have been trying to contact his next of kin.