Travel chaos as 'death on tracks' sparks major delays across London
Passengers at London Waterloo and on South Western Railway services have been affected by the disruption
Commuters in London faced severe disruption this afternoon after a person reportedly died on the tracks at Clapham Junction while a separate fire on a train added to delays across the city.
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British Transport Police confirmed officers were called to Clapham Junction at around 3pm on Thursday following reports of a casualty on the tracks. The person was pronounced dead at the scene.
The London Ambulance Service said it was alerted at 2.59pm to reports of a person hit by a train.
A spokesperson said: “We sent an ambulance crew, a paramedic in a fast response car, an incident response officer and our Hazardous Area Response Team to the scene. We also dispatched London’s Air Ambulance.
“Sadly, a person died at the scene.”
The incident led to cancellations and major delays through Clapham Junction, one of London's busiest railway stations.
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In a separate incident, a fire on a train at Wandsworth Town caused further disruption on routes between London Waterloo and both Barnes and Wimbledon.
National Rail warned that trains running through the area could be delayed or cancelled as a result of both incidents.
South Western Railway said passengers whose journeys had been heavily disrupted by the Clapham Junction incident could arrange their own taxis and claim reimbursement.
In a post on X, the operator said: “Because your journey has been heavily disrupted, you can book your own taxi and claim the cost back through the South Western Railway website.
“This applies to travel between any stations served by South Western Railway between London Waterloo, Portsmouth stations and Southampton Central.
”Passengers making a claim must provide their contact details, journey details, a description of events, and copies of their train tickets and taxi receipts."