THE first hours of the firefighters’ strike brought delays and confusion for travellers last night. London Undeground staff abandoned their posts citing safety fears and West Coast Main Line services were halted by a fire that was believed to have been started deliberately.

About 100 Tube staff did not report for work on the Piccadilly line, and the Waterloo and City line was suspended after five drivers refused to operate trains on the short run from Bank to Waterloo. There were delays of up to two hours on the Northern Line.

London Underground spokesman said it was impossible to predict whether similar problems would affect the network today, although 19 stations have been closed for the duration of the fire strike and lifts at other stations are not being used.

“Safety will not be compromised,” the Tube’s safety director Mike Strzelecki said. “We have clear, well-practised procedures to deal with fire alerts. But the critical safety factor is to evacuate potential danger areas quickly and calmly. We hope to run as normal a service as possible.”

Although all Tube lines remain operational, the closure of key stations is expected to cause worsening problems throughout today. The closed stations are: Belsize Park, Borough, Caledonian Road, Covent Garden, Edgware Road (Bakerloo Line), Elephant & Castle, Gloucester Road, Goodge Street, Hampstead, Holland Park, Kennington, Lambeth North, Lancaster Gate, Mornington Crescent, Queensway, Regent’s Park, Russell Square, Tufnell Park and Wapping.

A fire that caused gas cylinders to explode in a derelict building brought one of Britain’s busiest sections of rail track to a standstill last night.

Early indications are that West Coast Main Line services from Glasgow to London, Birmingham and Manchester could be subject to delays or cancellations throughout today.

Emergency services turned off the power supply and introduced a 24-hour exclusion zone around the site at Farmloan Road, Rutherglen, Glasgow to allow the cylinders to cool down. Because of the lightness of traffic at that hour, sleeper services were diverted to their destinations.

Police will today investigate suggestions that the blaze, which was tackled by a single Green Goddess crew, was started deliberately. The crew dealt with the blaze but then had to retreat when the cylinders began exploding.

A spokesman for Virgin Trains, which runs seven daily services between Glasgow and London, said: “Passengers should expect disruption throughout the day.”

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