24.01.14
Concrete flood repaired in time for Friday rush-hour
The Victoria Line has now reopened after staff worked through the night to clear a flood of concrete in one of the signal rooms.
The main section of the line was suspended last night, delaying thousands of commuters, with the incident proving a major embarrassment for TfL in the press and on social media. Initial references to delays being caused by ‘flooding’ soon had to be updated when pictures of the incident were published.
Contractors had been pouring the concrete mixture into an escalator void, which had accidentally burst through into the control room, covering signalling equipment with up to a foot of fast-drying cement. It is reported that the engineers rushed out to buy sugar at a nearby supermarket to prevent the concrete setting so quickly.
Transport for London announced on its Twitter feed last night: “There’s no service btn Warren Street and Brixton while we fix damage caused by flooding at Victoria. Severe delays on the rest of the line.”
And the TfL Victoria Line account was providing passengers with updates and support to find alternative journeys home. This morning it tweeted: “Huge apologies for Victoria line yesterday, it's now running with a good service. Stay in touch for updates.”
The below picture, via TfL, shows the room back in a much better state after the concrete was cleared out.
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