Power failure traps 5,000 Tube passengers underground for up to three hours

Commuters on nine stranded trains feared a terrorist attack as they were plunged into darkness and temperatures in the crammed carriages soared.

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London Underground's entire Jubilee line was shut down by a massive power failure which stranded the trains - each carrying up to 700 people - in tunnels.

The thousands of commuters had to be led to safety through the tunnels in the biggest rescue operation of its type, which got under way just after 6pm last night.

The Jubilee line, running from Stanmore in the north-west of the capital to Stratford, site of the 2012 Olympics, is used by half a million people a day.

Though ambulances rushed to stations there were no reported injuries.

Today Tube chiefs launched an investigation into what went wrong.

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Passengers were led along tracks between Canary Wharf and Canada Water; North Greenwich and Canary Wharf, Bermondsey and London Bridge; and Green Park and Westminster.

Tariq Amin, 25, a website developer from West Ham who was trapped near Canada Water station, said the three-hour ordeal had left commuters angry and frustrated.

Mr Amin, who filmed his experience, said: "When we stopped, the driver apologised over and over again for about 15 minutes, and then nothing at all.

"People started to get agitated. Some were lying down on the floor. I've never seen anything like it.

"Everyone got really angry when we got out and there was only a single-deck bus laid on for all the hundreds of passengers."

The catastrophic power failure started at 6.08pm when a transformer blew at a control centre in Neasden, north-west London, wiping out the signals, CCTV, some traction current and - crucially - the entire train cab radio system. A new digital cab radio system is due to be fitted later this year.

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Huge screens in the control centre, showing where 50 trains were located, shut down.

"Everything went blank. We just did not know what was happening or where the trains were," said a senior Tube source.

Without the radios, controllers and Tube drivers could not communicate.

London Underground diverted "every staff member available" from three other Tube lines to help.

Many went straight into tunnels to assure stranded passengers there had been no terror attack.

Passengers had to be led through the single driver's door at the end of the trains, helped down emergency steps and guided along the track.

Phil Hendren, 32, of Greenwich, said: "Our train stopped 500 yards from the station. But we were in the carriages for over two hours before we were led out.

"It was boiling. The driver kept us updated at first, but then the PA system broke down.

"The Transport for London staff who came to lead us out headed the wrong way up the tracks. That's why it took so long. They didn't even know where the hell we were."

Other passengers praised Tube staff for keeping them informed.

George McInulty, service director for the line, said: "Our drivers were brilliant - there were some real stars."

Much of the line remained closed for the evening and there were knock-on delays this morning on the Northern, Bakerloo, and District lines.