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TRAVEL MELTDOWN
Traffic grinds to halt after power cut shuts Blackwall, Rotherhithe and Limehouse Link tunnels in London
TRAVEL chaos has erupted in London after a power cut shut the Blackwall, Rotherhithe and Limehouse Link tunnels.
The power went down due to a fire in Poplar, East London.
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London Fire Brigade (LFB) tackled the blaze at an electrical substation on Castor Lane which also caused the entire Docklands Light Railway to be suspended earlier today.
LFB said the fire had been extinguished Tuesday evening which damaged the ground floor.
The brigade said up to 4,500 customers had been affected by power outages due to the blaze.
Around 100 people were evacuated from an adjacent depot and 1,500 students were evacuated from a college at the rear of the substation, the brigade said.
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The cause of the fire is not yet known.
All three tunnels have since reopened and the DLR is running a good service.
Both the Blackwall and Rotherhithe tunnels go under the River Thames, connecting South London and East London.
The Limehouse Link tunnel takes traffic from Canary Wharf to Wapping.
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Their closure has caused major disruption on the roads with many drivers left stranded and long tailbacks have formed along adjoining roads.
Surrounding roads were also closed to avoid further queuing.
Around 38,000 Londoners have been affected by the outage and UK Power Networks engineers are still trying to fix the fault caused by the fire.
The A101 Rotherhithe Tunnel was closed in both directions with queues of traffic building up on either side of the river.
There were also delays on the A13 and A200 with severe congestion on either side of the river, according to traffic website Inrix.
Congestion on both sides of the river also formed on the A102 Blackwall Tunnel with delays between the Bow Interchange and Kidbrooke Interchange, with further delays through Deptford, Greenwich, Charlton and Woolwich as people try to divert.
Regarding the A1203 Limehouse Link Tunnel closure, there was queueing traffic due to emergency repairs from A1261 Aspen Way to Butcher Row.
There was congestion to Waterloo Bridge via The Highway and Lower Thames Street.
There was also further delays on Tower Bridge and back to Canning Town.
UK Power Networks said in a statement: "We’re aware of a power cut affecting the E1, E1W and E14 areas of London.
"Our engineers are working to get the power on as soon as possible.
"For the latest information in your area visit our ."
In an update from the LFB this evening it said the Blackwall Tunnel and the Limehouse Link Tunnel had reopened but the Rotherhithe passage remained closed.
Station Commander Colin Digby, who is at the scene, said: “Firefighters worked hard in challenging conditions to bring the fire under control.
"The fire has caused power outages in the area, affecting around 4,500 customers. The Limehouse Link Tunnel and Blackwall Tunnel has reopened. The Rotherhithe Tunnel remains closed."
A spokesperson for TfL said: “We are aware that a power failure is affecting parts of the transport network in east and south London, and some traffic signals in east and south London are still affected.
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“UK Power Networks is working to address the problem and we will restore a full service across the network as quickly as we can.
"Traffic in areas of south and east London is likely to be very congested due to the disruption to the road network. If possible, customers should avoid driving in the area.”
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