A grass fire near Scrubs Lane in North Kensington caused a power supply failure and halted all train services between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport on Saturday afternoon, September 6, 2026. The incident triggered widespread cancellations and delays on routes including Paddington to Reading.
London Fire Brigade deployed six fire engines and approximately 40 crew members to tackle the blaze, which was reported shortly after 4:10pm BST. Emergency services and Transport for London evacuated 380 passengers stranded on an Elizabeth Line train due to the disruption.
Train services on the Elizabeth Line, Heathrow Express, and Great Western Railway (GWR) were
suspended immediately following the fire. While train operations resumed on Sunday morning, delays persisted across the affected lines. Pre-planned engineering work between London Paddington and Burnham, and closures between London Paddington and Ealing Broadway from 2:00am to 7:40am on Sunday, further impacted schedules.
Elizabeth Line services did not operate between London Paddington and Ealing Broadway until after 7:40am on September 7. Thereafter, trains to and from Maidenhead and Reading ran on amended timetables. GWR reported early morning rescheduling and operated a reduced local service between London Paddington and Reading/Didcot Parkway that day. Network Rail Western warned of potential delays and
cancellations due to train positioning following Saturday’s disruption.
The disruption affected key routes serving Heathrow Airport and its terminals, a major UK transport hub. Social media shared images of large smoke plumes near the Paddington area. National Rail confirmed the end of the main disruption by Sunday morning but noted ongoing impacts on timetables for the Elizabeth Line, Heathrow Express, and GWR services.
