12:35pm Thursday 8th May 2008
By Robert Fisk
TRAIN services are being disrupted because of an earlier fire at Woolwich Dockyard station.
A pile of rubbish on a track close to a platform edge was alight at around 7.40am and five cables were damaged.
This section of track is still closed and Southeastern is running trains from London to Kent as a shuttle service' to bypass the station.
Passengers can travel from London Bridge to Charlton but will then need to get on a bus from Charlton to Plumstead before boarding a train from Plumstead to Dartford.
Normal service is expected to resume by around 2pm.
London Underground, Docklands Light Railway and buses are allowing passengers with Southeastern train tickets to travel on all reasonable routes.
Rail replacement buses are also running on the route.
The station was evacuated when the fire was discovered and the power to the lines was switched off while firefighters tackled the flames.
One train, the 7.16am from Dartford to Charing Cross, was stuck between Woolwich Arsenal and Woolwich Dockyard stations when the electricity supply was turned off.
The passengers on the service were taken back to Woolwich Arsenal.
A Southeastern spokesman said: "This has caused considerable disruption and we regret any delay which has been caused to people's journeys.
"We have done our best to try to deal with the situation."
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