Thameslink has warned that Thames Water faces a multi-million pound bill for a burst water main and several other leaks from other water pipes since last Friday evening.

Severe disruption led Govia Thameslink Railway and Network Rail to close the rail route between St Pancras and Farringdon, with passengers advised to expect severe delays in the evening peak. Today is the first day that a full service has been resumed after several days of disruption and cancelled services.

 Over 1,000 trains have been cancelled since the first main burst on Friday with a further 133 hours of combined delays to those trains which have been running. Each train can carry up to 750 passengers with up to 200,000 journeys made on Thameslink every weekday.

 Since the first water main burst on Friday, Thames Water has found a further four leaks which have all now been fixed.

 Phil Verster, route managing director, Network Rail, said:

“Passengers have suffered a lot this week as a result of Thames Water’s burst and leaking pipes. We continue to work with Thames Water but the overwhelming extent of the continued flooding made it unsafe to run normal through services between London St Pancras and London Blackfriars since Sunday.

 We expect Thames Water to reimburse passengers, train operators and Network Rail for the significant consequences of these water leaks.”

 Stuart Cheshire, GTR’s Passenger Service Director for Thameslink, said:

“Passengers have been very patient but, like us, that patience has been utterly exhausted. These recurring leaks have to stop. Our passengers want a reliable service and we want to give it to them.”

In a statement issued on 28th January, Thames Water said its teams had spent the night assisting Network Rail by clearing their drains in the tunnel as there were concerns as to why water from the original burst water pipe on Friday had not drained away.

Thames Water director Bob Collington said:

“The water in the tunnel cleared as soon as we cleaned out Network Rail’s surface drainage system last night. The pipe was full of silt and debris, and a grill which would have allowed the water to drain away was blocked solid. Basically, the water had nowhere to go."

“We believe this problem was first identified as far back as 2007, and the problems with water on the track have been caused by a lack of maintenance on their part.

“Our teams have done a fantastic job resolving this issue, and we will be presenting our findings to Network Rail as part of a full investigation into what has caused this terrible disruption to passengers.”