Signal failure hits Tube passengers

Thousands of London Underground passengers suffered fresh disruption today when a Tube line to the City was suspended because of a signal failure.

The Waterloo & City Line, used by over 30,000 passengers every day, was hit by delays last Friday because of flooding at Waterloo, ending a week of problems across the Tube network.

Commuters had to switch to other forms of transport or different Tube lines today because of the suspension of the 1.5 mile long line, known as the Drain, which links Waterloo with the city of London.

The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has warned of further disruption from midnight tonight because of a work-to-rule by train fleet maintenance staff in a row over job cuts.

Meanwhile, thousands of members of the RMT and the Transport Salaried Staffs Association are threatening to go ahead with two further 24-hour strikes next month in protest at job cuts which will cripple Tube services.

Talks aimed at averting the strikes have been held at the conciliation service Acas but the dispute remains deadlocked.

A Transport for London spokesman said: "The Waterloo & City line has been suspended this morning due to a signal failure at Waterloo. London Underground's engineers are on site and replacing defective parts and we expect normal service to resume on the line shortly. We would like to apologise to customers who have been inconvenienced by these vital emergency repairs."