An investigation has been launched into the cause of a fire next to Southall train station - which started a day of delays on the trains in west London.
Announcements on the London Underground warned passengers about a fire close to Heathrow Airport causing "severe" delays on TfL trains between Paddington and Heathrow early on Tuesday morning (November 27).
By 7am there were reports of a return to good service in the area but then a train derailed at West Ealing - leading to huge queues at Southall station and continued delays throughout the morning.
BELOW: Network Rail engineers dealing with a derailed train at West Ealing - which added extra delays after the Southall fire
Details of the fire at Southall revealed
The London Fire Brigade has revealed details about the Southall fire which caused the initial problems.
About 40 firefighters were needed to get the flames under control in disused train carriages, a log on the fire brigade's website says.
In total three old train carriages were involved.
The fire brigade added: "Six fire engines and around 40 firefighters were called to disused train carriages alight next to Southall train station.
"One derelict train carriage was destroyed by the fire and a further two were damaged.
"There were no reports of any injuries."
The fire brigade were first called about the fire at 2.25am.
By 5.53 am, the blaze was under control.
Fire crews from Southall, Heston, Ealing and Hayes fire stations attended the scene.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, the brigade added.
Perfect storm leads to huge queues and rush hour chaos
The delays caused by the fire at Southall were followed by further disruption after a train derailed at West Ealing.
The chaotic scenes on train platforms only really kicked in when the delays from the fire and the derailed train at West Ealing combined.
At around 7.30am Twitter user @FredCoolBreeze shared his photos with this website of the huge queues packed onto platforms at Southall station.
He said he was behind the train that derailed.
You can see his photos in our gallery below:
Delays until at least midday
National Rail has extended the time disruption is expected to continue until.
As of 9.30am, their advice was that delays would continue until 12pm.
A statement on the National Rail website said: "The operational incident at West Ealing has now been dealt with and service recovery is underway.
"However, whilst services recover, trains between Slough / Heathrow Airport and London Paddington may still be cancelled or delayed by up to 45 minutes.
"Disruption is expected until 12:00."
Advice for customers from National Rail
The Heathrow Terminal 4 service has been suspended during the disruption.
Great Western Railway customers are advised that they may use tickets on the London Underground and London Buses via any reasonable route, according to National Rail.
While TfL customers have been told they can use tickets on any of the follow services:
- Great Western Railway between Hayes & Harlington and London Paddington
- London Underground between Heathrow Terminal 4 and London Paddington
- London Buses route 140 between Heathrow (Bus Station) / Heathrow Terminal 4 and Hayes & Harlington
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