London King's Cross station evacuated in 'emergency' as 'all lines blocked'

A major train station was evacuated this evening following an "emergency" that left all lines blocked. Commuters were evacuated from King's Cross Station after a fire alarm was triggered today, with networks saying "all lines" from the central London station were impacted. 

Great Northern said in a statement on X, formerly : "London King's Cross has been evacuated following a fire alarm. Due to this, all lines from the station are currently blocked." Members of the public have posted photos and footage from the scene showing the usually bustling station ground to a halt, with people initially told there was an unspecified "emergency" forcing "thousands" to wait outside.

Journalist James Pierce wrote online: "Kings Cross Station closed due to an unspecified emergency. Thousands of commuters now forced to wait outside."

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Another would-be passenger, Stephen Hill, said he arrived "to a closed King's Cross", adding he suspected staff had been told there was a fire, and posted a video showing the deserted station with guards standing nearby and directing people outside.

He wrote: "I got back to a closed King's Cross (I suspect we were the last train in) to see my first ever Inspector Sands incident in the wild. Never had one before. Obviously, sorry for all the people stuck at KGX but my inner nerd can’t help but enjoy that."

The phrase "Inspector Sands" is a codeword used by transport authorities to privately alert staff to a potential fire without evacuating the station. Another commuter added that, after they were evacuated from the station, they could see "normal staff and firefighters" walking around "calmly" inside.

Great Northern has since confirmed that the station has now reopened. The network said it was "working on recovering the service" before warning that services would be altered or delayed by up to 20 minutes.

A spokesperson urged: "Some train services will be altered and/or delayed by up to 20 minutes, so please check your journey before you travel."

Network Rail East Coast added in its own statement that the evacuation was "a precaution" and had only lasted for "a brief period" after smoke was reported coming from a retail unit in the King's Cross complex.

A network spokesperson said: "King’s Cross was evacuated as a precaution earlier this evening for a brief period due to reports of smoke linked to a retail unit. The station is now re-open for passengers. Thank you to @londonfire for their quick response."

The Great Northern spokesperson added that people travelling this evening may want to consider taking an alternative train from neighbouring London St Pancras, adding passengers will be allowed to use their tickets for "no additional cost" on alternative Thameslink and Great Northern services.

"It may be faster to travel via an alternative train from London St Pancras, which is a 5 minutes walk from London King's Cross. You can use your ticket at no additional cost on alternative Thameslink and Great Northern services via any reasonable route towards your destination."