Power Returns to London, Chaos Continues

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, August 29, 2003

Power Returns to London, Chaos Continues

Power is returning in south London but chaos continue after power went out late Thursday in parts of London and the southeast of England.

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Power is returning in south London but chaos continue after power went out late Thursday in parts of London and the southeast of England.

Major disruption has been caused and thousands of London subwaytravelers were stuck underground. Transport above ground in Londonhas also been thrown into chaos.

Some London underground stations have been evacuated and 60 percent of services have been affected.

South London is thought to be worst affected but there have been reports of power returning in Clapham, south-west London. About 270 sets of traffic lights now work again, according to a Sky News report.

All mainline train stations in south London, including Victoria,London Bridge and Waterloo, have been affected with commuters being asked to leave buildings.

Above ground, buses are reportedly extremely busy as commuters abandon packed Tube platforms, although street lights and traffic lights in central London have failed. Road transport as far south as M25, an outring road of London, was also affected.

Businesses and homes have been plunged into darkness in Brixton,Battersea and London Bridge.

Local reports quoted transport officials as saying that thousands of people had to take to the streets as dusk approached.

Train company Connex has reported a blackout caused by problemswith the National Grid but so far it was not immediately clear howwidespread the chaos is.

Sue Gill from EDF Energy said, "It seems that one of the National Grid circuits that feeds south London has failed."

A spokesman for the Department of Health said the power cut would not cause major problems for hospitals in the area. He said,"All NHS hospitals have back up generators. They will be able to cope."

The situation is "unprecedented," said a spokesman for Network Rail.

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