Elizabeth line: No trains between Heathrow and Abbey Wood due to swan on the tracks

A swan is causing major disruption on the Elizabeth line, with no service between Heathrow and Abbey Wood due to a bird on the tracks.

Transport for London’s (TfL) website is warning passengers of the lack of trains between the two stops, with “severe delays” reported for the entirety of the service.

Some of those aboard the delayed trains have taken to Twitter to complain about the rogue bird, allegedly on the line at Paddington.

One user wrote: “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 ‘shoo’ ing course.  How hard is it to move a swan”

Another said they had been stuck on a train for an hour, adding: “You deal with ill passengers by removing them from the train, why don’t you use the same logic here by removing the swan from the line, incompetence!!”

Joel Stokes, producer of the Joan is Awful episode of Black Mirror, wrote: “On the Elizabeth Line heading from Reading to Liverpool Street an there’s a baby swan on the track causing delays. Driver says it’s due to cygnet failure.”

The Elizabeth line celebrated its one-year anniversary on May 24 this year. Connecting Reading and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east, more than 150 million journeys have been made on the line since it was opened.

A TfL spokesperson said: “We apologise to customers whose journeys have been delayed or cancelled due to a swan which caused an obstruction on the Elizabeth line. We are working with Network Rail to recover the service as quickly as possible.”