Swan on the track leads to suspended trains on £19 billion Elizabeth line

Services on a major section of London’s £19 billion Elizabeth line have been suspended because of a swan.

Passengers on board trains reported being told the bird was blocking part of the route.

Transport for London’s (TfL) website stated there are no services between Heathrow Airport in west London and Abbey Wood in south-east London – via the centre of the capital – due to “an obstruction on the track”.

It added that there are “severe delays” on the rest of the line.

National Rail Enquiries said there are “animals on the railway”.

Passengers reported being held on trains – which do not have toilets – for up to hour due to a swan on the tracks at Paddington.

One Twitter user wrote: “I have been trapped on the Elizabeth line for an hour because of a swan on the line.”

Another posted: “You are an absolute shambles @TfL. I cannot believe you closed the entire Elizabeth line for a swan on the tracks.

“Has nobody been on the shooing course. How hard is it to move a swan?”

The Elizabeth line stretches from Reading in Berkshire and Heathrow Airport to Shenfield in Essex and Abbey Wood.

It opened in May 2022 at an estimated cost of £18.9 billion. Since then, more than 150 million journeys have been made on it. Updates to the line’s timetable last month mean trains now run from Shenfield in Essex, through east London to Heathrow Terminal 5 all day. The airport will now receive six Elizabeth line trains per hour. The new timetable also means trains will now run roughly every two-and-a-half minutes at peak times across Paddington and Whitechapel in central London.

Also last month, the Prince and Princess of Wales travelled on line through central London on Thursday on their way to visit the Dog & Duck pub in Soho to hear how it was preparing for the coronation of King Charles III.