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The Tube network would suffer catastrophic collapse if six key stations had to be closed, scientists claimed today.

They said the inability of trains to run through Baker Street, Earl’s Court, Notting Hill, Euston, Rayners Lane and West Ham would bring 68 per cent of Underground services to a standstill.

The experts decided to analyse the resilience of the Tube after an incident two years ago when a control room at Victoria station was flooded with wet concrete, resulting in the closure of much of the Victoria line.

They compared it with the Paris Metro and New York Subway and found London had the most fragile network, mainly because it is the oldest and all lines come together in the centre.

The researchers, Matthew Williams of the University of Birmingham and Mirco Musolesi of University College London, calculated that shutting the six stations would halt services to 190 of the Tube’s 270 stations.

In pictures: leaked concrete in Victoria Line control room 9 show all In pictures: leaked concrete in Victoria Line control room 1/9 Concrete leak The Victoria Line control room. (Picture: Usvsth3m.com) 2/9 Concrete leak The Victoria Line control room. (Picture: Usvsth3m.com) 3/9 Concrete leak The Victoria Line control room. (Picture: Usvsth3m.com) 4/9 Concrete leak The Victoria Line control room. (Picture: Usvsth3m.com) 5/9 Concrete leak The Victoria Line control room. (Picture: Usvsth3m.com) 6/9 Delays TfL initially blamed flooding for the delays 7/9 Suspended The Victoria line was suspended between Brixton and Warren Street (Picture: Nigel Howard) Nigel Howard 8/9 Closed Commuters had to find alternative routes home (Picture: Nigel Howard) Nigel Howard 9/9 Queues Tube stations became crowded as commuters struggled to find a way home (Picture: Nigel Howard) Nigel Howard 1/9 Concrete leak The Victoria Line control room. (Picture: Usvsth3m.com) 2/9 Concrete leak The Victoria Line control room. (Picture: Usvsth3m.com) 3/9 Concrete leak The Victoria Line control room. (Picture: Usvsth3m.com) 4/9 Concrete leak The Victoria Line control room. (Picture: Usvsth3m.com) 5/9 Concrete leak The Victoria Line control room. (Picture: Usvsth3m.com) 6/9 Delays TfL initially blamed flooding for the delays 7/9 Suspended The Victoria line was suspended between Brixton and Warren Street (Picture: Nigel Howard) Nigel Howard 8/9 Closed Commuters had to find alternative routes home (Picture: Nigel Howard) Nigel Howard 9/9 Queues Tube stations became crowded as commuters struggled to find a way home (Picture: Nigel Howard) Nigel Howard

The stations were found to provide the shortest path between each point on the network — meaning that removing them caused the biggest increase in delays.

Mr Musolesi said: “We wanted to understand what happens if you have some stations that are not available any more. It can be because of an accident. It can be because of a [terrorist] attack.

“We tried to understand what happens if you cannot go from a certain point in the network, say from Euston to Charing Cross. We found a way of measuring how your journey would be delayed, and a method of identifying the stations that are most critical.”

The researchers, whose work was published by the Royal Society Open Science journal, said that in London the system “becomes highly fragmented after very few failures”.

Mr Musolesi said there were two lessons — to build extra track, tunnels or station entrances at the key points, and that security should be improved.

He said: “The London Underground is fragile. It’s the result of it being a patchwork of previously built lines.”

He added: “London Underground should connect more lines to each other. A ‘mesh’ network is very robust. You can go from any point because you have alternatives.”

A TfL spokesman said: “We are completely focused on running a safe and resilient service for London and are carrying more customers more reliably than ever before. Our plans for further upgrades to signalling and stations will ensure that we deliver an increasingly robust service for our city.”