Passengers who were trapped on Elizabeth Line trains for up to three hours or more may be fined up to £26 for exceeding maximum journey times.
Thousands of people were stranded on services for hours after damage to overhead electric cables in west London on Thursday (December 7). About seven trains were affected, operated by the Elizabeth line, Heathrow Express and Great Western Railway (GWR).
Images and footage shared on social media on Thursday night showed commuters sitting in dimly lit carriages suffering from power outages, before they were eventually evacuated. There are reports some broke their way out of carriages and walked down the tracks in the dark.
Singer James Blunt and TV presenter Rachel Riley were among those affected by the disruption.
To add insult to injury, some passengers may have been charged from £9.40 up to £26 as the time between tapping in for their journey and tapping out exceeded the maximum journey time Transport for London (TfL) allows.
Maximum journey times vary depending on the time of day, travel zones covered and the day of the week.
The maximum journey time between London Paddington and Acton Main Line, when services got stuck at about 6.30pm on Thursday, falls within the zone one to three daytime category of one hour 50 minutes.
With the delay lasting four hours and passengers unable to tap out due to the train never making it to a station, many could see the extra charge appear on their bills.
The normal peak fare from Paddington station to Acton Main Line is £3.70 for a journey which should last about six minutes.
Angry passengers and users of TFL’s services took to social media to vent their frustration at the prospect of being charged for being stranded on the cold, dark trains.
One passenger posted a screenshot of an £8.80 charge on X last night, writing: “TfL can you refund me for my AWFUL journey yesterday?”
Another said: “Imagine the Elizabeth Line holding you hostage for over 3 hours… for TfL to still take £13 out of your account at 3am.”
A TfL spokesman confirmed passengers affected by last night’s disruption will be automatically refunded, with payments possibly taking a few days to process. He said those who were stuck on its Elizabeth Line services shouldn’t need to do anything to receive their refund.
He added: “If they have not received their refund over the next few days, then they should get in touch with TfL customer services.”
A TfL spokesperson said earlier: “We’re sorry that the damage caused to Network Rail’s overhead power lines by another rail operator’s train has caused significant disruption to our Elizabeth line customers as well as all train operators out of London Paddington.
“We’re working together with response teams across partners to recover trains and get everyone home as quickly as we can.
“Network Rail are working urgently to repair the power lines and we’d encourage all customers to check before they travel over the next few days while they do this.”
A Network Rail spokesperson said the overhead cables affected were in the Ladbroke Grove area of west London.
