Mourners prevented from attending Queen’s funeral by rail disruption

Passengers on an Elizabeth line train at a standstill outside Royal Oak station in west London as rail lines between Slough and Paddington were blocked on Monday morning. Photograph: Alan Hamilton/PA

Rail disruption to the west of London has prevented thousands of mourners from seeing the Queen’s funeral in the capital, with the closure of the line between Paddington and Reading expected to continue throughout Monday.

Lines were blocked from about 6.30am because of damage to overhead electric wires, Network Rail said. Services operated by GWR, Heathrow Express and Mtrel, which runs the Elizabeth line, were affected.