Derailed train causes severe disruption at Paddington station

Derailed empty passenger train outside Paddington station, London. Photograph: @andrew6ger

Disruption to rail services to and from Paddington station in west London will continue on Friday following a derailment on Thursday afternoon.

There will be a reduced service in and out of London Paddington tomorrow as a result of the incident outside Paddington this evening.

— GWR Help (@GWRHelp) June 16, 2016

The rail operator GWR warned on Thursday night that very few trains were going west of Reading. “We recommend you travel [on Friday] when your ticket will be accepted,” it said.

Network Rail said an empty train had travelled past a red signal, which resulted in an automatic derailment. No one was injured.

The incident caused all services to be suspended for a short time before platforms six to 14 were reopened to diesel trains.

One Twitter user posted a picture of the derailed train:

The derailment is just outside Paddington. Picture is a public service for everyone. pic.twitter.com/NyHIlUctSw

— Mr B (@andrew6ger) June 16, 2016

Network Rail tweeted:

#LondonPaddington Engineers continue to work to resolve the problem. Apologies if you are affected. See @nationalrailenq for service info.

— Network Rail (@networkrail) June 16, 2016

Earlier, passengers were advised to use alternative routes from Marylebone or Waterloo stations.

Heathrow Express services were suspended due to a loss of power, leaving hundreds of passengers scrambling to reach the airport in west London.