Race to fix problems by rush hour as Londoners hit by travel chaos after incidents at King's Cross and Surbiton

Crush: Commuters were evacuated from King's Cross this morning
Leni Candan

Transport bosses are working to fix the delays on London's Tube and rail networks after commuters were hit by chaos during the morning rush hour.

Four London Underground lines are still badly affected by delays after a string of signal failures led to the evacuation of King's Cross Tube station.

A Transport for London spokesman said it had fixed broken signalling equipment which affected the Circle, Hammersmithsmith & City, District and Metropolitan Lines, and was aiming to operate a good service for the evening rush hour.

Seperately, rail services from Waterloo were expected to be hit by delays into the afternoon after a man died when he was hit by a train at Surbiton station at around 7.30am.

The incident, which police said was not suspicious, sparked delays and cancellations on South West Trains services between Woking and Waterloo.

The operator said problems were expected to be resolved by around 4pm, in time for evening commuters.

Emergency response: Police, fire crews and paramedics at Surbiton station
Twitter/@nomad_by_sos

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union called for a summit to address the impact of "cuts to staffing and maintenance" and surging passenger demand, and any impact on safety after today's problems.

General secretary Mick Cash said: "This has been yet another grim 24 hours for London commuters.

"RMT shares the anger and frustration of passengers caught up in this shambles and the union will continue to fight for a reversal of the cuts programme which threatens public safety as demand continues to surge."

Delays: A Tube information board at Paddington this morning
Jason Collie

A TfL spokesman said a “temporary fix” had been found to get trains moving during the rush hour, but that more complicated work later had to be carried out.

Steve White, London Underground's operations director, said: "I apologise for the disruption caused to Tube customers using the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines this morning.

"The disruption was caused by signal failures at Aldgate East and Baker Street, which have now been resolved by our technical staff.

"We will be refunding customers who were affected by the disruption, and are working to restore the lines to a good service as soon as possible."

Samaritans is available round the clock, every single day of the year, providing a safe place to talk for anyone who is struggling to cope. Please call 116 123 (this number is free to call and will not appear on your phone bill), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit www.samaritans.org to find details of your nearest branch.

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