Commuter chaos after King's Cross fire
Tuesday, 27 Jun 2006 10:40
Commuter chaos after King's Cross fire
London commuters faced chaotic journeys to work today as King's Cross rail station remained closed following a fire last night.
The north London mainline station will remain shut for another 24 hours as part of a "cooling off" period, a Network Rail spokeswoman said, despite the nearby fire having now been extinguished.
Fire erupted at an under-construction building on Goods Way at the junction of York Way in King's Cross at about 08:36 BST yesterday morning, the London fire brigade said.
It was subsequently put out after four fire engines and more than 20 firefighters arrived at the scene, but the presence of dangerous gas cylinders meant that a 200m safety exclusion zone was set up, including the mainline station.
"Fires involving [acetylene] cylinders cause major disruption in the capital on average once every month," a London fire brigade statement read.
"Because of the risk of explosion, a 200m exclusion zone is set up every time these cylinders are involved in a fire."
Such a move means that no trains will run into King's Cross for the rest of today, and normal service may still not resume tomorrow morning.
King's Cross is one of the major transport gateways to London from the north of England and the station's closure led many passengers to experience severe difficulties in getting to work this morning.
A limited service northwards from Finsbury Park station is now in operation, but passengers should still expect delays throughout the day.
"We are pleased the fire is now out, but we cannot resume services before it is absolutely safe to do so," Network Rail's director of operations and customer service, Robin Gisby, said.
"We have worked hard overnight with the train operators to put in place a special timetable which sees local limited services resume today north of Finsbury Park. We will continue to update passengers with information as soon as we receive it."