Leaking construction grout leaves hundreds stranded at tube station

Hundreds of commuters were forced to evacuate King’s Cross tube station yesterday after a safety blunder by Metronet.

The Metronet team was injecting grout into a wall above the Piccadilly Line at about 6pm on Wednesday evening when the adhesive mixture began to seep through onto the busy platform below.

London Underground staff thought the roof was about to collapse and carried out an emergency evacuation of the westbound platform. Piccadilly Line trains were halted through central London for two hours, causing massive delays.

Kings Cross chaos
Hundreds left stranded at King Cross tube station.

Even though Metronet said they had a ‘lookout’ on the platform as a precaution, an investigation has been launched into why such work was being done during the rush hour.

A Metronet spokesperson said: “Construction grout did leak through a failed or broken seal. It spilled onto the platform and created a puddle about a metre square… This was being carried out during peak hours because we are using every opportunity to get work done.”