LONDON: The British government's part-privatisation of the London Underground was blamed last night for exacerbating a massive power failure, which blacked out large parts of the capital and brought the transport network to a halt.
Early reports suggested that 250,000 people were affected by the blackout, including tens of thousands of Tube passengers, who were stuck in tunnels as trains broke down.
Buildings along the Thames were in darkness, 270 sets of traffic lights failed and train services stopped from four main stations.
The blackout sparked fears of a terrorist attack. But it quickly became clear that the failure was caused by a fault in one of the national grid's key circuits serving south London and the home counties.
As frightened Underground passengers were helped to safety, unions and transport experts pointed to a controversial deal last year in which the London Underground's 97-year-old independent power station, Lots Road, was shut.
Former transport minister Mr John Spellar closed the Fulham power station in west London with a ceremonial flick of a switch in October, handing responsibility for the Tube's power supply to a new consortium, Seeboard Powerlink, in a private finance deal.
Under the deal, Seeboard connected the Tube's power supply to the national grid, with a back-up power station in Greenwich, south London, in the event of an emergency.
Early indications suggested last night that the back-up generator had failed to work. London regional organiser for the RMT transport union, Mr Bobby Law, said: "Once more this raises questions about the whole strategy of using PFI contractors to supply key public services. It does not work."
Outside Victoria and Charing Cross stations, crowds of commuters milled about in darkness, seeking alternative ways to get home. Buses were packed and all available taxis were quickly taken.
The Mayor of London, Mr Ken Livingstone, said he believed that between 100,000 and 150,000 people had been affected by the blackout. Speaking on Channel 4 News, he said: "We've never faced a crisis like this before." He said there would be an immediate inquiry into the cause of the breakdown, which brought back memories of the power cut which hit the north-east of the US two weeks ago.
Network Rail said the situation was "unprecedented", with no trains moving in south London. Train drivers told passengers to sit and wait, after all the lights on the network defaulted to red.
A spokesman for Network Rail, Mr Kevin Groves, said: "All power to all our signal systems to the third rail, which supplies power to the trains, all our power to points and lighting have all gone since 6.30 p.m.
"All trains have got no power at all. They are at a standstill. All signals are at red. Everyone is safe but nothing is moving." Transport commentators said the government would have to explain why it had changed a system which powered the London Underground for nearly a century, allowing it to continue running during the Blitz.
Christian Wolmar, author of the book Down the Tubes, said: "For nearly 100 years, LU had a guaranteed electricity supply because it had its own power station. Within a year of its dependence on the grid and the PFI, suddenly we get a serious breakdown."
By 7 p.m., after 35 minutes of darkness, the national grid said it had begun restoring power. A spokesman said: "There was a fault in the 275,000- volt system affecting a ring around London, which occurred at 6.26 p.m. Power to the distribution network in London was restored at 7 p.m. Obviously it is going to take the regional distribution network some time to restore supplies to the end users of their system."