Bakerloo line hit by delays as part of tunnel falls on track

Morning rush-hour tube services were badly disrupted when part of a tunnel wall fell on to the track on the Bakerloo line.

No one was hurt in the incident between Waterloo and Embankment in central London on Thursday.

Services were suspended between Piccadilly Circus and Elephant and Castle, and there were severe delays on the rest of the Bakerloo line.

Transport for London (TfL) described the incident as "an obstruction" in the tunnel and as a "tunnel defect".

The TfL spokeswoman said: "This is a minor tunnel defect. There has been no collapse or partial collapse. No one was hurt and there were no stalled trains. Our engineers are on site and we are trying to rectify the problem."

Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, said: "Our reps understand that the suspension of Bakerloo line services is due to a partial tunnel collapse at Embankment that is currently under investigation."

Members of the RMT who maintain the Underground's Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines, and who do emergency work across the tube network, are on strike in a row over pensions. They walked out on Tuesday until Friday afternoon.

London Underground's operations director, Nigel Holness, said: "There is no tunnel collapse in the Bakerloo line, nor is there any flooding or any injuries. It is wrong and irresponsible to suggest otherwise.

"Our engineers and emergency response unit are on site assessing the situation and have advised there is no flooding or risk of flooding or any collapse of the tunnel. We are working to resolve the issue and restore tube services as soon as possible."

He went on: "The problems this morning are not in any way connected with the industrial action taken by some maintenance workers on the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines, which has had no impact since the strike began."