Paddington Station was plunged into darkness last night when the busy transport hub’s lighting failed, sparking delays to services.
The station, which is one of the busiest in London, was almost pitch black and illuminated only by and digital display boards and shop lights amid the failure.
Passengers complained of the delays caused by the “blackout” and told how staff guided them through the station and along platforms using torches on their phones.
Network Rail said engineers were called to identify the power outage on the main concourse after the lights failed at about 10pm on Tuesday night.
Commuters took to social media to express their outrage.
Al Ryan, a BBC radio presenter, wrote on Twitter: “Darkness quite the sight at Paddington station right now. Power outage in parts of the concourse causing problems getting home plus urgent track repairs.”
Amid the chaos, Patrick Jackson, also a BBC journalist, wrote: “Progressive power failure here at Paddington Station right now… Just been told it’s too dark to bring trains into the station now.”
He later joked: “don’t think the Paddington blackout is some unscheduled Brexit rehearsal,” before adding: “Train’s in despite the Paddington blackout. Station staff directed us with their phone torches along the platform. Spirit of the Blitz.”
The problem has since been resolved and while services were affected into the night there should be no disruption for morning commuters, a spokesman said.
A Network Rail spokesman told the Standard: “The lights are back on…We sent engineers straight away, got it fixed and everything’s back to normal.”
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Commuters had been warned to check travel information before they began their journeys, but services appeared to be running on time ahead of rush hour on Wednesday.
