page_title: 7 July 2005 London bombings
section_title: Transport and telecoms disruption
hierarchical_section_title: 7 July 2005 London bombings / Effects and response / Transport and telecoms disruption
caption_attribution_description: A motorway sign on the M6 heading into London on 7th July 2005. Avoid London. Area Closed: A motorway sign on the M6 heading into London on 7th July 2005. Of all the photos I could have posted for the events today this one seemed the most powerful. License on Flickr (2010-12-28): CC-BY-SA-2.0 Flickr tags: london, terrorist, attack, 07/07/05, london bombing, terror, road, matrix sign
context_page_description: The 7 July 2005 London bombings, often referred to as 7/7, were a series of coordinated Islamic terrorist suicide attacks in London, England, that targeted commuters travelling on the city's public transport system during the morning rush hour.
  Four terrorists separately detonated three homemade bombs in quick succession aboard London Underground trains across the city and, later, a fourth on a double-decker bus in Tavistock Square. The train bombings occurred on the Circle line near Aldgate and at Edgware Road, and on the Piccadilly line near Russell Square.
  Apart from the bombers, 52 UK residents of 18 different nationalities were killed and more than 700 were injured in the attacks, making it the UK's deadliest terrorist incident since the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 near Lockerbie, Scotland, and England's deadliest since World War II, as well as the country's first Islamist suicide attack.
  The explosions were caused by triacetone triperoxide IEDs packed into backpacks. The bombings were followed two weeks later by a series of attempted attacks that failed to cause injury or damage.
context_section_description: Vodafone reported that its mobile telephone network reached capacity at about 10 am on the day of the bombings, and it was forced to initiate emergency procedures to prioritise emergency calls (ACCOLC, the 'access overload control'). Other mobile phone networks also reported failures, causing for example BBC Radio London reporters to use landline phones and Sky News to use the station ticker for displaying messages from persons trying to contact their relatives. The BBC speculated that the telephone system was shut down by security services to prevent the possibility of mobile phones being used to trigger bombs. Although this option was considered, it became clear later that the intermittent unavailability of both mobile and landline telephone systems was due only to excessive usage. ACCOLC was activated only in a 1 km (0.6 mi) radius around Aldgate Tube Station because key emergency personnel did not have ACCOLC-enabled mobile phones. The communications failures during the emergency sparked discussions to improve London's emergency communications system.
  For most of the day, central London's public transport system was largely out of service following the complete closure of the Underground, the closure of the Zone 1 bus network, and the evacuation of incident sites such as Russell Square. Bus services restarted at 4 pm on 7 July, and most mainline railway stations resumed service soon afterward. River vessels were pressed into service to provide a free alternative to overcrowded trains and buses. Local lifeboats were required to act as safety boats, including the Sheerness lifeboat from the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. Thousands of people chose to walk home or to the nearest Zone 2 bus or railway station. Most of the Underground, apart from the stations affected by the bombs, resumed service the next morning, though some commuters chose to stay at home. Affected stretches were also closed for police investigations.
  Much of the King's Cross railway station was also closed, with the ticket hall and waiting area being used as a makeshift hospital to treat casualties. Although the station reopened later during the day, only suburban rail services were able to use it, with Great North Eastern Railway trains terminating at Peterborough (the service was fully restored on 9 July). King's Cross St Pancras tube station remained available only to Metropolitan line services to facilitate the ongoing recovery and investigation for a week, though Victoria line services were restored on 15 July and the Northern line on 18 July. All of the damaged trains were removed in stages. St. Pancras station, located next to King's Cross, was shut on the afternoon of the attacks, with all Midland Mainline trains terminating at Leicester, causing disruption to services to Sheffield, Nottingham and Derby.
  On 25 July, the Hammersmith & City line was reopened from Baker Street to Barking after the affected train was cleared at Aldgate, together with the stretch from Moorgate to Aldgate of the Metropolitan Line. The Hammersmith to Paddington part of the Hammersmith & City line was a shuttle service after the bombings. On 29 July, the District line was reopened from High Street Kensington to Edgware Road, after the affected train was cleared.
  On 2 August the Hammersmith & City line resumed normal service; the Circle line was still suspended, though all Circle line stations are also served by other lines. The Piccadilly line service resumed on 4 August after the affected train was cleared on 16 July, and enhanced maintenance work was done. On 4 August, the Circle line was reopened again.
caption: A sign on the M25 London orbital road warns drivers to avoid the city.
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