Commuters’ mornings fell into chaos today as severe Tube delays plagued the Circle Line, District Line and Hammersmith & City Line.



Transport for London (TfL) urged commuters to take alternative routes as engineers grappled with a signal failure at Bromley-by-Bow station.

Read more: Bank station commuters warned of travel chaos ‘until 2022’

The incident left the District Line suspended between West Ham and Whitechapel, with severe delays across the rest of the line in both directions.



It also led to severe Tube delays on the Circle Line.



TfL told passengers their tickets were valid on local buses, while District Line commuters could also use the C2C train route from Essex to complete their journeys.



The Bromley-by-Bow signal failure also led to no service running between Barking and Liverpool Street on the Hammersmith & City Line. Severe delays held up commuters on the rest of the line.



The delays coincided with the start of what could possibly be three years of disruption at Bank station today.



TfL began work to build three new escalators for the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) service at Bank as part of a plan to boost station capacity by 40 per cent.



However, it warned that the DLR concourse would shut down during the construction work, which could continue until 2022.

Instead a one-way system would direct DLR passengers through the main station while TfL staff will be on hand to redirect passengers.



Northern Line passengers will be able to reach the DLR by the normal existing staircase, but DLR passengers trying to reach the Northern Line will be redirected via new signage.



“DLR customers will be able to enter and exit Bank and Monument stations as usual, although to prevent the station becoming overcrowded staff may occasionally guide them through a different route,” TfL said today.

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“Demand at Bank Tube station has risen by around a quarter in recent years and the new escalators to the DLR from the Northern line are essential to managing this increase while making customer journeys quicker and more comfortable by increasing capacity,” Stuart Harvey, director of major projects for TfL, said.



“I apologise to customers who may be affected by the concourse closure. We have planned this work to minimise any disruption to customers and staff will be on hand to help people move around the station.”

Main image credit: Getty

