Olympics 2012: tube flood raises fears over London's transport system

Fears for the resilience of London's transport network during the Olympics have been heightened by the closure of a tube link to Stratford after flooding. The Central line, which connects the West End and City to the Olympic Park, was part-suspended after a burst water main flooded 800 metres of tracks with 2m litres of water via a ventilation shaft. Hundreds of passengers were stuck on a train for two hours before being led up a tunnel to safety on Wednesday. A section of the line, including through Stratford station, remained closed until 4.30pm on Thursday. A Transport for London spokesman said workers had been pumping out the water through the night and making sure the track and signalling equipment was functioning properly. He said: "Clearly this was something that happened to us – it wasn't a failure of the tube network, it was Thames Water whose water main flooded the Central line. "It's possible that things like this will happen at Games time, and we'll deal with them. We'll provide people with real-time travel information; it'll take longer, but we'll get people to the Games and back." The latest problem followed delays and incidents over recent weeks on the Jubilee line, the other main line serving Stratford, which is anticipated to do most of the heavy lifting for spectators. The London Labour party has warned that the capital could be a laughing stock if the problems continue during the peak Olympic period. Bob Crow, leader of the RMT union, said: "We repeat our call for an urgent investigation into just why the tube has been reduced to daily chaos just weeks away from the city's biggest ever transport challenge."