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Alastair Jamieson / NBC News
A sign at Stratford train station, at the Olympic Park in East London, warns travelers of the suspension of Central Line trains.
Updated at 5:39 a.m. ET: LONDON -- Olympic spectators traveling to the Games in London faced delays Tuesday after a faulty train temporarily forced the closure of one of the busiest underground links to the Olympic Park.
There have been concerns over whether London's public transport system, the busiest in Europe, would be able to handle the rush of spectators attending the Games.
The system appeared to cope well with the crowds on Monday.
A smoke alert halts subway service on London's Central Line which transports thousands of spectators to the tube stop at Olympic Park. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.
Operator Transport for London told NBC News in a statement that the Central Line service, which stretches east to west across the city, was temporarily halted east of Liverpool Street station on Tuesday after a driver reported smelling smoke.
The driver's train was taken out of service at Leyton, one stop to the east of the Stratford station which is being used as the hub for people arriving at the Olympic Park.
London Olympic VIP lanes not needed as many turn to public transit
Alternate routes
Although Transport for London told NBC that Central Line services resumed within hours, the line continued to suffer delays. Staff advised Olympic fans to travel to the park via a number of other rail routes, Transport for London said in a statement.
More on London 2012: Hosting the Games
British Transport Police said the problem may have been due to smoke coming from the train's brakes.
London's entire transit network handles an average of 12 million trips a day.
NBC News staff, Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Leave a Comment:
Meh. I am enjoying watching the Olympics right from my comfy couch!
After all the hateful comments against Romney , facts show he was right , London was not ready. However the Obama worshipers and the media that carry the water for him, never are going to accept that they are a bunch of looses. Romney was right and is right in Israel, is right in Poland.
So a train having a problem makes Romney right? That's pretty tough judgment. Have you any idea how many trains there are on the London Underground?
This is just making the American press look petty. A train is late and they report?
American press is just trying to offer every little thing to make it seem Mitt was right. Mitt was wrong and he should have been blasted. It's not like we or any other country doesn't have transportation delays.......
looks like mitt was right
Liberals can never say that Mitt Romney is right about anything, even when it is brutally obvious!
Mitt was referring to security - how is a train fault a security issue?
Right, because a train had issues? A common thing even when the olypics aren't in town? The only reason there was a backup was because people wanted to take the train and not the busses that were running and not crowded at all. Takes a little longer (5-10 minutes longer) but it gets you there in comfort. So what was Mitt right about? People being lazy? yeah thats true about just about anything.
Given all of the enormous expense and tremendous hassle of hosting the Olympics, I am wondering if the average Brit, who will see no personal benefit other than a vague sense of national pride, is asking himself if having the games in London is really worth it.
One article is saying vacant seats, one is making the cyclists mad, one is about the subway breaking down.. I think its a ploy to get you to stay away.
Although Transport for London told NBC that Central Line services resumed within hours, the line continued to suffer delays. Staff advised Olympic fans to travel to the park via a number of other rail routes, Transport for London said in a statement………oops!!
No, JHans, Mitt
is not right. One tube train happened to develop a fault; it happens, just like
cars break down from time to time. London's underground system is one of the
largest mass transport systems in the world which includes infrastructure built
at a time when the city's population was less than half of what it is now. It
is currently undergoing a multi-billion pound upgrade follow years of neglect
by successive conservative governments. So I thank you not to exaggerate a
relatively minor incident.
Mitt is not right, and the economy is moving in the right direction. LOL
Yes Philip, Mitt is right and eveyone knows it except for the ones that hate to hear the truth. Your fellow Brit, Piers Morgan said Mitt was 100% right.
So go have a spot of tea and chill out.
Given why Piers Morgan had to quit editing his tabloid rag I somehow doubt he'd be able to spot the truth if it was running round in front of him screaming 'I'm the truth'.
Dale, I'd welcome reference(s) to articles and/or interviews with Mr Morgan before I can comment. However, given the amazing success of the games so far, to which I am totally indifferent, I view the train breakdown as something of a storm in a tea cup.
Oh, and I loathe tea! I'm going to chill to a nice up of coffee.
I just spent a few days in London a couple months ago and am shocked that there haven't been more problems! I think that the London metro is one of the worst in Europe, dirty, inefficient and really not on time. The trains were just not up to par, compared to the rest of Europe, and just a very difficult entry and exit system (You have to use your ticket or pass not only to enter, but, to leave the subway)! The entire experience was not pleasant, and, this was well before the Olympics. I am sure that it is much worse now.
Have you ridden the New York subway? Ours is dirty...
I do apologise that you had to beep in AND out so your fare could be calculated. That is VERY difficult indeed. The hoards of Londoners clutching their heads in agony at the mental capacity required to beep in AND out.
Funnily enough the tube is weirdly empty. Everyone seems to have heeded the warnings to take alternative routes.
Are you by any chance a Mitt Romney supporter...?
Anyone criticizing the London Subway has clearly never tried the Paris one
maybe that's why they have so many empty seats.
How petty. Mitt goes and angers the press in England so now the American press has to report on a tube delay? Mitt was right... NOT.
Dan, there are certainly some significant operational problems with the London Underground thanks largely to years of conservative government under-investment and the delights of private sector involvement in the £10+ billion network upgrade delivering shoddy work. Conservative philosophy of privatisation of vital public services has proved time and time again to be inefficient and more costly in the longer term. The Olympics privatesecurity debacle is one further example.
I can’t claim to have been to all the metro systems in Europe, but I’ve seen enough dirty, shoddy and ageing rolling stock in Paris, Rome and Frankfurt. Even the New York subway is pretty grimy.
Is this important news? Is Romney's trip to three countries important? Is Obama's negative campaign important? Is Romney's negative campaign important? Has either candidate focused on issues? Most pundits predicted the campaign would be nasty and negative. It's boring. It has no substance. There is no focus. The MBTA runs the same way it did when Romney was governor of MA. The whole thing is a lot of talk and a lot of fluff. At least we have not got a murder in the news for once. Now that's good news.
This just in....the following delays have occured thus proving Mitt was right:
1 - A toilet clogged up at London Liverpool street station.
2 - A person's iPod battery died while riding the underground, thus rendering the passenger depressed as he could not enjoy the gift of music.
3 - The Olympic Park sold out of Bort novelty licence name plates
4 - A persons shoelaces came undone...but were quickl re-tied.
5 - A person knicked themselves while shaving this morning
6 - One Olympic spectator could not find their seat until an usher directed them to the correct location.
7 - It was cloudy in London this morning
Yup....you put all these facts together you can only come to one and only one conclusion. Mittens was right!
God help us all.
I was on bus that broke down once, ruined my day. London should never get the Olympics again until they can guarantee no mechanical failures.
Lets see, London has a train running late, and Americans are discussing the ramifications it has on our upcomming elections! Really? Try kicking back and enjoy the Olympics.
...
Mitt is vindicated.
...
Lets see, London has a train running late, and Americans duscuss the ramifications it has on our upcomming elections! Really? That's all you got? Kick it and enjoy the Olympics.
late trains, unwatchable Opening Ceremony, empty seats everywhere, controversial judging, rain (it's London), crappy athlete village,,,,yeah,,this has been a real boon for the Brits. Oh yeah,,,,,,and let;s not forget,,,a wonderful celebration of the NHS a broken down piece of crap national healthcare program where you die waiting to be treated.
Idiot
Late trains - In a major city? Not a late train? Oh good God!? To think people had to divert onto a different line...however did they cope?! We should probably just give up now and cancel the Olympics. I hear East London has gone into meltdown.
Unwatchable Opening Ceremony - acclaimed the world over, look at the reviews. Possibly made uwatchable by NBC I give you. Is it because you're annoyed the British press took a pop at Romney?
Empty Seats - happens at every single Olympics. Massive shame indeed but the public tickets are all sold out, it's the tickets that have to contractually be provided to the Olympic committees of each country that aren't being filled. But hey, why let a fact spoil a soundbite.
Crappy Athlete Village - first I've heard. Where did you get that from? I saw a bunch of American athletes raving about it on NBC earlier but if you know something the rest of us don't...
NHS - why do you care? We couldn't give a damn what you do with your healthcare. The NHS was founded in the year of the last London Olympics and unlike in America there is no debate in Britain about having universal healthcare. We may endlessly discuss whether it's being funded correctly and how to best manage it but the overwhelming majority of people support it's existence and have been cared for by it literally from the moment of their birth. If we want to say thank you for 64 years of service by our doctors, nurses and caregivers, a selection of who were up there dancing about having the time of their lives, then why not? It was fun. The NHS is a national institution that holds a unique place in the British psyche. It's almost laughable to attempt to portray it as some leftist political attack. If you want private healthcare here then you just go out and pay for it same as in America...it's only that most choose not to.
Oh and I forgot controversial judging! Which is arranged by the International Olympic Committee obviously...or did you think the judges were British because we were hosting the Olympics...?!
When he says "controversial judging", I think he means "Why aren't they letting us win?"
These people are mongrels, yet there are those in the US that continue to defend them. Fight Sharia in the US to the death.
?
London's Underground is quite awesome, in point of fact, and no one would have even noticed had the press not been bored and been sniffing around for bad news (not really their fault; it is what the public demands of them).
We love the city and hope to visit again.
'Mind the gap, please ...'