London travel news LIVE: Northern Line chaos as Tube line hit by ‘defective train’ and signal failure

Commuters are facing severe disruption on the Northern Line on Thursday morning.

Passengers were told of a “defective train” between London Bridge and Bank, forcing some early morning commuters to abandon their journeys and walk to work.

TfL is also reporting a signal failure at London Bridge. This is causing severe delays between Kennington and Camden Town northbound via Bank.

A good service was being reported on other Tube lines as of 6.30am.

Elsewhere, heavy traffic is backing up on the M4 westbound after a van rolled over at Junction 5 (A4/Langley). The motorway is shut westbound within Junction 5, and diversions are in place via exit and entry slip-roads.

Follow the latest updates below…

Long delays on M4 after van crash closes motorway

07:45

There are long delays on the M4 westbound, which is closed this morning following an accident.

The motorway was shut around 4.30am after a van rolled over, says traffic monitoring website Inrix.

The road is closed westbound within Junction 5, says National Highways. A detour is in place via exit and entry slip-roads, and recovery of the vehicle is reportedly underway.

Congestion is backing up along the M4 to Junction 4A for Heathrow, and back onto both sides of the M25.

There is also slow traffic on the eastbound M4 caused by motorists slowing to look at the accident.

20-minute delays between Northern Line services

07:19 , Lydia Chantler-Hicks

Commuters have been reporting gaps of around 20 minutes between northbound Northern Line services this morning, amid severe delays.

Passengers at Bank were earlier told trains would be arriving severely delayed and then moving on from the station at a speed of around 10mph. They were advised to travel by other routes where possible.

Several stations closed due to works

06:58 , Josh Salisbury

Several stations are closed today or not serving trains as part of long-running works.

At Caledonian Road station eastbound Piccadilly line trains will not stop until Thursday 31 October, while westbound trains will not stop from November 4 until November 21.

This is in connection with Piccadilly line upgrade work, says TfL.

Colindale station remains closed until December 2024 while station improvements take place.

Meanwhile, Kentish Town station is also closed and Northern line trains will not stop there until the end of the year, while station improvements take place.

Severe Northern Line disruption

06:45 , Josh Salisbury

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of today’s travel news.

Commuters on the Northern Line have been hit with severe delays between Kennington and Camden Town northbound via Bank.

TfL says this is due to a signal failure at London Bridge.