Power Failures Cause Disruption on London Tube

 People walk at Waterloo station, after Transport for London (TfL) reported a power failure across the London Underground, London Overground and the Elizabeth line, in London, Britain, May 12, 2025. (Reuters)
People walk at Waterloo station, after Transport for London (TfL) reported a power failure across the London Underground, London Overground and the Elizabeth line, in London, Britain, May 12, 2025. (Reuters)
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Power Failures Cause Disruption on London Tube

 People walk at Waterloo station, after Transport for London (TfL) reported a power failure across the London Underground, London Overground and the Elizabeth line, in London, Britain, May 12, 2025. (Reuters)
People walk at Waterloo station, after Transport for London (TfL) reported a power failure across the London Underground, London Overground and the Elizabeth line, in London, Britain, May 12, 2025. (Reuters)

Power failures caused delays and disruption on London's Tube network on Monday, as several of its busiest lines were suspended.

The Bakerloo line was completely suspended as of 1715 local time (1615 GMT), while other services including the Jubilee, Elizabeth and Piccadilly lines were facing severe or minor delays following a power outage more than two hours earlier.

Transport for London (TfL) said it was working to get the whole network back to normal service as quickly as possible.

"Due to a brief interruption of the power supply to our network, several lines lost power for a short period earlier this afternoon," TfL Chief Operating Officer Claire Mann said in a statement.

Britain's National Grid confirmed that a fault on its transmission network had caused a power failure.

"The fault was resolved within seconds and did not interrupt supply from our network, but a consequent voltage dip may have briefly affected power supplies on the low voltage distribution network in the area," a spokesperson said.

The incident also caused a small contained fire which was brought under control, National Grid said.

The potential for power failures to cause major disruption came into sharp focus in March when London's Heathrow Airport was forced to shut for 18 hours due to a fire at a nearby electrical substation, stranding hundreds of thousands of air travelers.

Transport trade union TSSA called for an inquiry into the incident to ensure a similar power outage does not happen again.

"Safety for all is key at this moment, but in due course we will need a proper inquiry into what happened and the lessons to be learned," TSSA General Secretary Maryam Eslamdoust said.



Scaffolding Goes up in Venice to Save Banksy’s Migrant Mural

People work at the beginning of the restoration process of Banksy's 'Migrant Child', the mural depicting a migrant child wearing a lifejacket and holding a pink flare in Venice, Italy, June 17, 2025. (Reuters)
People work at the beginning of the restoration process of Banksy's 'Migrant Child', the mural depicting a migrant child wearing a lifejacket and holding a pink flare in Venice, Italy, June 17, 2025. (Reuters)
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Scaffolding Goes up in Venice to Save Banksy’s Migrant Mural

People work at the beginning of the restoration process of Banksy's 'Migrant Child', the mural depicting a migrant child wearing a lifejacket and holding a pink flare in Venice, Italy, June 17, 2025. (Reuters)
People work at the beginning of the restoration process of Banksy's 'Migrant Child', the mural depicting a migrant child wearing a lifejacket and holding a pink flare in Venice, Italy, June 17, 2025. (Reuters)

Scaffolding went up in Venice on Tuesday to restore a mural by the elusive street artist Banksy that had appeared on the side of a 17th century building in the lagoon city six years ago.

"Migrant Child" shows a boy wearing a lifejacket and holding a pink flare, representing the artist's support for migrant sea rescue charities.

But being exposed to Venice's notorious humidity and painted on the canal-facing side of a crumbling palazzo, it was in danger of fading into oblivion.

The building, unoccupied when Banksy worked on it, was bought last year by an Italian bank that is now funding its entire restoration, mural included.

Banca Ifis is planning to turn the Palazzo San Pantalon into an exhibition space linked to the Venice Biennale art fair, it said in a statement.

The three-story building is in the Dorsoduro neighborhood, near Venice's main university. The well-known Zaha Hadid Architects studio is working on the renovation project.