LONDON Marylebone will not re-open this evening and will be shut "until further notice" because fire damage to signalling cable was worse than first thought, Chiltern Railways has said.

The station is closed and Chiltern services from Oxfordshire are only running into West Ruislip, following a fire that destroyed part of its signalling cable.

Chiltern had said this morning the station might be open by 2.30pm, but it has now said it will not be this evening.

A spokesman said: "Passengers travelling northbound via High Wycombe should go to West Ruislip on the Central line where Chiltern trains will start.

"We may be able to start some trains at Wembley Stadium.

"Damage from the signal cable fire was more extensive than first thought and repair work will need to continue overnight."

Passengers can use their Chiltern tickets on the Underground to and from central London. Its tickets can also be used on First Great Western (which runs from Oxford through to Paddington) and CrossCountry services.

The spokesman added: "Without signals we cannot safely run trains, so are not running to or from Marylebone until new cables are installed and tested.

"We are only able to run a limited service tomorrow on both our lines and as a result the trains we are running will be incredibly busy. This is because we will be able to run far fewer trains as we will be turning round at stations which have two platforms instead of at Marylebone which has six.

"If you can avoid travelling we advise that you make alternative arrangements."

The company's updates can be found at chilternrailways.co.uk but it's timetable to serve Oxfordshire can be accessed here.

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