Grass Fires Near Waltham Cross Shut Down Trains to Stansted Airport, Snarl M25 Traffic

A large grass fire broke out near the railway line at Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, on Sunday afternoon, forcing London Fire Brigade to order a total halt of train movements through the area. The shutdown knocked out Greater Anglia and Stansted Express services between London and Stansted Airport for hours.

Greater Anglia reported the stoppage at 14:57 BST, according to the BBC. The fire near Lea Road in Waltham Abbey, close to Waltham Cross, grew large enough that London Fire Brigade sent 14 engines to fight it. At its peak, about 14 hectares, roughly 35 acres, of grassland was burning, the BBC reported.

Firefighters used water backpacks, wildfire beaters, and a Terrain Support Vehicle carrying about 475 liters of water plus misting-lance equipment to get in front of the blaze on open ground, according to a London Fire Brigade spokesman quoted by the Daily Express. By just after 5pm, the brigade said the fire was under control.

The disruption reached well beyond Waltham Cross itself. Greater Anglia and National Rail confirmed that services to and from Cambridge North, Meridian Water, and Hertford East were affected, with routes toward Liverpool Street and Stratford diverted via Seven Sisters. Stratford to Meridian Water services were cancelled outright, according to the Thurrock Gazette.

For anyone trying to reach Stansted Airport, the workaround was difficult. National Rail advised passengers to travel from London Liverpool Street via the Underground to King's Cross St Pancras, then take a Great Northern service to Cambridge before connecting onward to the airport. London Now reported that this route pushed total journey times up to two hours and 30 minutes, a trip that normally takes under an hour direct.

National Rail said passengers with tickets already booked on the direct route could use them on the King's Cross-to-Cambridge alternative at no extra cost. Ticket acceptance was also extended across London Underground, London Overground, London Buses, Great Northern services between London and Cambridge, and Thameslink services from St Pancras to Cambridge, according to the Thurrock Gazette.

The fire's smoke didn't stay contained to the rail corridor. National Highways closed one lane of the anti-clockwise M25 between junctions 25 (Enfield) and 26 (Waltham Abbey) for smoke-related visibility problems and to allow for repairs, the BBC reported.

Network Rail officers and emergency crews were on site throughout the afternoon working to clear the fire and restore normal service, according to a joint Greater Anglia and Network Rail statement carried by multiple outlets, including the Express and the Thurrock Gazette. Both operators apologized for the disruption.

A grass fire next to a rail line forced an entire regional network offline for hours, including the link to a major international airport. Passengers stuck rerouting through Cambridge faced a significant detour on a corridor with no fast fallback option. The incident raises questions about network resilience and how often trackside vegetation fires force full closures, especially during dry summer stretches when grass fires spread rapidly.

None of the outlets covering this — the BBC, the Daily Express, London Now, or the Thurrock Gazette — reported any injuries. None suggested the fire was anything other than a wildfire spreading from dry grassland, consistent with the kind of blaze London Fire Brigade has handled repeatedly during hot, dry conditions this summer. No arson investigation or suspicious-cause statement appears in any of the reporting.

By early evening the fire was under control, but National Rail's disruption notices as reported did not give a firm timestamp for full service restoration. The unresolved questions for Monday-morning commuters and Stansted-bound travelers are straightforward: how long did Greater Anglia take to fully restore the direct Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport route, and did Network Rail identify what ignited the grassland in the first place.