Stratford International station was partly closed and DLR services suspended this afternoon after a fire alert, before the closure was lifted at around 4pm following contact with the London Fire Brigade.
The alarm at the east London station prompted a partial suspension of Docklands Light Railway services between Stratford and Stratford International from around 3.18pm while the incident was investigated. The rest of the DLR network continued to run normally during the disruption.
With the station only partly closed, DLR trains were unable to run the short section between Stratford and Stratford International — a link used by thousands of passengers each day, including travellers changing between the DLR, the mainline station at Stratford and the high-speed Javelin services from Stratford International.
The closure was lifted at around 4pm after the fire brigade was contacted about the incident, bringing an end to the afternoon’s disruption on the DLR. Residual delays were still being reported on other parts of the Tube network at the time.
Wider disruption across the Tube
The fire alert was one of several incidents hitting the capital’s transport network on Thursday afternoon. The Piccadilly line was suffering severe delays following a signal failure at Leicester Square, while the Bakerloo line had minor delays between Harrow & Wealdstone and Queen’s Park after an earlier customer incident at Maida Vale.
There were also minor delays on the Northern line northbound between Kennington and Camden Town via Bank because of train cancellations, and Tram services remained suspended between Arena and Elmers End.
Why the closure hit the evening peak
The suspension landed just as the evening peak was beginning to build, a difficult time for any station closure in east London. Stratford International sits at the heart of one of the capital’s busiest interchanges, where the DLR meets high-speed Javelin services and a growing cluster of homes and offices around Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The station was built ahead of the London 2012 Olympics and gained its DLR link in 2011, but Eurostar trains have never regularly served it — a long-running campaign to change that is gathering fresh momentum. Any disruption there ripples through Stratford, where mainline, Tube, DLR, Overground and Elizabeth line services converge, so even a short suspension can leave platforms crowded quickly.
What happens during a station fire alert
A fire alert at a London station typically triggers an immediate partial evacuation of the affected areas while staff establish the cause. Even when no fire is found, services cannot resume until the all-clear is given, because running trains into a station where passengers may still be clearing the platforms would be unsafe.
Stations are often only partly closed rather than shut entirely, as happened at Stratford International — with entry points sealed off while staff manage crowds and allow emergency crews access. The DLR suspension was limited to the two-stop section through the station, with the rest of the line kept running to avoid stranding passengers further afield.
Advice for passengers
Commuters travelling through Stratford this evening should check live departure boards and the TfL status page before setting out, and allow extra time for journeys. Residual delays on the Piccadilly, Bakerloo and Northern lines may still be affecting connections.
Passengers delayed by 15 minutes or more on TfL services — including the DLR — can apply for a refund through TfL’s online delay repay process, using their Oyster or contactless journey history as evidence of the disruption.
Read our earlier coverage of plans for Eurostar services to return to Stratford International, the Southeastern train changes affecting Bromley, and this morning’s Elizabeth line delays caused by a faulty train at Custom House.
