Holidaymakers were left in "chaos" at Heathrow Airport after a tunnel closure left train platforms at the airport overcrowded.
Long tailbacks built up towards Britain’s busiest airport as the road tunnel to Terminals 2 and 3 was shut on Tuesday morning.
Hundreds of passengers were left waiting for over an hour as they tried to reach their flights during the busy holiday period, with Heathrow advising people to try and take public transport to reach the terminals.
At one stage, the airport's terminals became so busy trains on the Elizabeth Line had to stop running between Hayes & Harlington and Heathrow due to overcrowding.
Utter chaos again at Heathrow… the tunnel is closed, the carpark buses dropping everyone at T4/5, the underground packed with no air it feels like… awful 😭 pic.twitter.com/6Il6bBQlPm
— Kaylie Kay 📚✈️ (@kayliekaywrites) August 5, 2025
One passenger, Scott Roberts, told the Standard it took him around 80 minutes to travel 100 metres at the airport because it was so crowded.
He explained that he was unable to get out of a lift at Terminal 3 during the disruption as there were so many people in front of him.
Mr Roberts explained: “We eventually got out, but everything was at a standstill. We had no information or anybody to explain what had happened.
“I got a message from Virgin stating the tunnel between the station and terminals 2 and 3 was closed.
“It was hot and sweaty and people were getting irate.”
He continued: “I had left in good time but I am sure people would have missed their flights.
“I had to run through the airport but for me the biggest problem was a total lack of information.”
Another passenger described how they had become stuck after stepping off the train at Heathrow before waiting around an hour to get through the airport.
Tobi, who was travelling on his birthday, told the Standard: “The airport itself [was] really crowded but at least it is not stuck or immobile.”
The rest of the Elizabeth Line was also hit by severe delays on Tuesday morning, making it difficult for passengers to reach the airport from central London.
Trains were unable to run between Shenfield and Whitechapel while Network Rail responded to a fire alert, creating major disruption on the other side of the capital.
Heathrow confirmed the road tunnel to Terminals 2 and 3 had reopened shortly before 11.30am on Tuesday, and trains on the Elizabeth Line were able to resume running to the airport within the hour.
A Heathrow spokesperson apologised for the disruption and told the Standard the Central Terminal Area tunnel was forced to close due to a technical issue.
National Highways had warned that the M4 Heathrow Spur was closed and told travellers to head towards Terminal 5 instead.
The disruption comes days after Heathrow and other airports across London had to ground flights following a technical glitch at air traffic control.
No planes were able to take off for around 20 minutes at airports across the country following an issue at a control centre in Hampshire on Wednesday, creating a backlog of delays during the busy summer period.
This week, Heathrow also revealed details of its £49 billion plan to expand and modernise the airport.
