Commuters face weeks of disruption after Tube crash

Travellers face massive disruption on the London Underground today after a train derailment on Saturday led to the temporary closure of one of the system's busiest lines.

As the Central line's entire fleet of 85 trains was being removed from use and checked yesterday, it was revealed that the train immediately behind the one that derailed also had safety problems.

London Underground said it hoped to re-open most of the line by tomorrow but stressed that might not be possible as it would depend on the results of the safety checks on the motor mountings, thought to be the cause of the accident at Chancery Lane station, which injured 32 people.

If trains had to be withdrawn, London Underground said, others could not easily be switched from elsewhere on the network because they were of a type Central line drivers were not trained to use.

When the line is re-opened, a three-stop section between Liverpool Street and Holborn stations is likely to remain closed for several weeks to allow for repairs at Chancery Lane. The line is the longest on the network and runs from north-west to north-east London via Oxford Street and the City. When it reopens, it will in effect be divided in two, with a connecting bus service.

As union leaders claimed yesterday that London Underground had been warned about faults on Central line trains, an inquiry was under way to establish the circumstances of the derailment, one of the most serious accidents on the Underground.

A west-bound, eight-carriage train carrying about 800 people entered Chancery Lane station at Saturday lunchtime. The rear of the fifth car came off the track, causing the derailment of the remaining three carriages, which struck the side of the tunnel. Parts of the fifth and six cars also struck the platform edge. Windows and doors were shattered, the lights went out and distressed and injured passengers had to scramble on to the platform through the connecting doors. All the injuries were minor.

At the centre of the inquiry are the bolts holding the motors on to the undersides of the train, four to each carriage. After an incident involving one of the motors becoming loose in the line depot six months ago, the trains were modified and checks are now made every five days. The last check on the train involved was two days before the accident.

London Underground said the inquiry would examine reports that another driver had notified the line control at Leytonstone, several stops earlier, that he had heard a noise coming from under the train that crashed. Passengers also spoke about a "grinding, clanking noise" coming from underneath the train.

According to the train drivers' union Aslef, the driver in the train behind, which stopped in the tunnel, tried to use special "circuit clips'' to cut off the power to the tracks, but found they did not work because the curvature of the track meant that they did not fit. The driver also found his door was broken so that it could not be used as a ramp for passengers to use when getting off the train; additionally, the train's batteries failed and the passengers found themselves in darkness.

The crash site was being inspected yesterday by Health and Safety Executive officials, who were checking the extent of structural damage, including whether any potentially lethal asbestos had been disturbed.

A union leader called for a public inquiry yesterday and said all safety work under the controversial public-private partnership should be suspended. Mick Rix, the general secretary of the drivers' union Aslef, said: "There is no public confidence that safety procedures have been properly followed during the run-up to PPP. Management have been given repeated and specific warnings from Aslef about ... the motors on Central line trains but these warnings have been ignored."