Major London station evacuated after number of passengers begin feeling ill

Major delays to journeys have been reported.

The incident was sparked after passengers reported feeling unwell following a suspected gas leak on an Elizabeth line platform.

British Transport Police were called to the station at 9.42am after a small number of commuters complained of feeling ill.

Within minutes, the station was evacuated and emergency services descended on the junction of Farringdon Road and Clerkenwell Road, with two fire engines, two fire rescue units and specialist officers from London Fire Brigade arriving alongside ambulance crews and paramedics.

London Fire Brigade later clarified that crews had been dispatched following reports of a smell of chemicals on an Elizabeth line platform at Farringdon.

Officers carried out a comprehensive sweep of the area to check for elevated readings of any chemical substances, but found none.

The scene was formally declared safe at 11.35am, just under two hours after the first call was made.

In total, 14 people were treated at the scene.

London Ambulance Service sent a significant number of resources to the station, including incident response officers, paramedics in fast response cars, clinical team managers and a specialist hazardous area response team.

Two of those treated were taken to hospital by ambulance as a precaution, while the remaining 12 were discharged at the scene.

The closure of Farringdon, one of London's busiest interchange stations, triggered severe disruption across multiple rail lines during the Thursday morning rush hour.

The Elizabeth line was part suspended between Paddington and Abbey Wood, while Thameslink warned customers of major disruption across a wide range of its routes, with services expected to remain severely affected until 5pm.

Passengers travelling on Thameslink were advised to add a minimum of 60 minutes to their journey times, with many routes requiring them to find alternative services for at least part of their trip.

The Brighton and Cambridge route was suspended entirely, with travellers directed toward Great Northern services or Gatwick Express alternatives.

Several other routes, including Horsham and Peterborough and Bedford and Gatwick Airport via Redhill, resumed running but with significant delays and cancellations.

Elizabeth line passengers were offered the use of their tickets at no extra cost across London buses, the Underground, the Docklands Light Railway, Southeastern services, South Western Railway, Greater Anglia, c2c and London Overground's Liberty line, among others.

Armed officers were also reported among the emergency personnel who attended the scene.

Following the completion of the emergency services' work on site, all lines were eventually reopened and Farringdon station resumed normal operations. However, National Rail and Transport for London both warned that the knock on effects of the morning's disruption would be felt across the network for the remainder of the day, urging passengers to check before they travel and to plan for delays well into the afternoon.

The cause of the chemical smell remains under investigation.