Train passengers have been warned “do not travel” to King’s Cross station following the cancellation of dozens of services in and out of London on Saturday.
They were told to avoid the major transport hub as six major train companies announced they had cancelled or had disrupted services throughout the afternoon and evening.
The disruption was caused by a problem with the overhead wiring between Stevenage and Hitchin and meant southbound trains were unable to reach the station.
It led to chaos for those travelling during the summer holidays or to major events across the UK, including the Edinburgh Festival and came on the first weekend of the English Football League season, with 30 games taking place on Saturday.
The London North Eastern Railway (LNER) issued a “do not travel” warning after “more cancellations than normal”.
On X, formerly Twitter, LNER said: “Due to significant disruption across our route, we are experiencing more cancellations than normal.
“Current advice is do not travel. We are running a significantly reduced service and services that are running are extremely busy.”
‘Major disruption’
Work was carried out to repair the damage to the overhead wires.
A National Rail spokesman said: “The overhead wires sustained severe damage yesterday evening between Stevenage and Hitchin. Engineers have been working to repair the damage and three out of four lines have now been reopened.
“Trains running between London and Cambridge/Peterborough may still be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised.
“Major disruption is expected until the end of the day.”
Six train companies – Grand Central, Great Northern, Hull Trains, LNER, Lumo and Thameslink – confirmed they had routes affected by the disruption.
Some passengers were forced to wait for hours for their train or had their service cancelled altogether.
Passengers vented about the delays on social media. “Another weekend of delays and cancellations from King’s Cross,” one user said.