Vauxhall fire: South West trains 'dangerously full' following railway station blaze

Passengers have been left stranded at stations across the network

A major fire on the tracks at Vauxhall railway station in south London has caused travel chaos with train passengers being crammed into "dangerously full" carriages.

Firefighters were called at 2.39am and are still dealing with the fire, which has not yet been extinguished.

The blaze affected electrical cabling and the power to the tacks has been switched off.

Trains in and out of Vauxhall and Waterloo station were disrupted and passengers have been warned to check the latest travel.

South West Trains said its services were being severely disrupted and urged passengers only to travel if "absolutely necessary".

Passengers were left stranded at stations across the network, with those who did manage to get on a train saying services were "dangerously full".

Tickets will be accepted on Southern, Great Western Railway and Transport for London services.

London Fire Brigade station manager John Ryan said: "Once the power was isolated firefighters quickly got to work to tackle the fire.

"We're currently assessing how much electrical cabling has been affected and damping down pockets of fire.

"The fire will impact on travel this morning and we'd ask people to check before they travel."

The Fire Brigade said the cause of the fire was being investigated.

South West Trains has issued detailed information about the travel disruption, which is expected to continue until 10am.

Trains that run through Vauxhall station may be cancelled, delayed by up to 60 minutes or revised as the rail company is only able to use five out of eight main lines.

A statement said it would "be running a very limited service until all lines are reopened" after the fire was reported to have broken out by platforms three and four.

Trains between London Waterloo and Windsor & Eton Riverside, Hounslow and Twickenham and Kingston and Richmond are affected and will either terminate or start at Clapham Junction.

Trains from Farnham to London Waterloo via Ascot services departing at 21 and 51 minutes past will not run and neither will services from Shepperton to London Waterloo via Twickenham departing at 00 and 30 minutes past.

Services between London Waterloo and Portsmouth stations may start and terminate at Woking and Guildford and trains between London Waterloo and Salisbury and Exeter St Davids will start and terminate at Basingstoke.

London Waterloo to Reading and London Waterloo to Weybridge services will run as scheduled in both directions.

The train company some suburban lines may also suffer disruptions.

PA