ANYONE planning to get to London Heathrow this weekend should check travel options before heading to the airport.
Major engineering works will see one tube line partly close and two other services to the terminals will be scaled back.
Anyone heading to Heathrow on the train or tube could run into problems this weekendCredit: GettyOn both days there will be no service to London Heathrow on the Piccadilly LineCredit: Getty – Contributor
On both Saturday and Sunday, the Piccadilly Line will have no service between Hammersmith and London Heathrow terminals.
There will also be no Night Tube service on October 16 – normal service is expected to resume on October 19.
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Travel to or from Heathrow Airport on the Elizabeth Line will also experience issues.
Services on Saturday will run as usual, but on Sunday, there will be a reduced service between Paddington and Heathrow Terminal 4.
The once simple message, “Get out the vote,” now has a corollary: “Protect the vote.”
That message was hammered home Saturday for dozens of voting rights groups, community organizations and unions attending a rally to recruit and train poll watchers for the November election.
Organizers for several groups brought together under the banner of Love Powers L.A. offered scenarios of the threats that could materialize on Nov. 3 — from ICE raids to intimidation by the Proud Boys — and detailed strategies to counter them.
Their goal was to raise a cadre of volunteers for a Neighborhood Vote Protection Program to observe 650 polling places throughout the 11 days of voting and to turn fear and confusion sought by election deniers into a celebration of the right to vote.
“We want to make it a season of excitement,” said Jeremy Payne of the social justice group Catalyst California.
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1.David Gutierrez right, of Inner City Struggle, signs up Jocelyn Elizalde, 22, and Manuel Becerra, 19, from left, to help with outreach, during an event held by Love Powers LA, representing dozens of community groups and labor unions, provide education and training to Angelenos on how to protect their vote and respond to threats of election interference at East Los Angeles College on Saturday, September 26, 2026. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times)2.Participants including Evelyn Gonzalez, right, attend a workshop for activist dance and street activation during an event by Love Powers LA, representing dozens of community groups and labor unions, providing education and training to Angelenos on how to protect their vote and respond to threats of election interference, at East Los Angeles College on Saturday, September 26, 2026. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
The event kicked off with multicultural music by Native American, Korean and West African drum ensembles.
“L.A. is a target for retribution and spectacle,” said John Lee, also of Catalyst California. “When they try to steal an election, it is a sign they know they are losing.”
Godfrey Plata of L.A. Forward, left, and Jung Hee Choi of We Are California present skits on how to talk to neighbors about voting during the event Saturday.
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
The event, involving numerous nonprofit organizations, stayed away from endorsements or political messages aimed at the coming election. But speakers didn’t hold back on their views of President Trump.
“Trump is a chicken and a loser,” said Jung Hee Choi, of the umbrella group We Are California.
Choi described two personality types, skeptics and frozen, that the group is targeting.
She urged volunteers to hold ballot parties in their homes to move skeptics “from the couch to the poll” and routine voters from the “frozen mode to the fight mode.”
“We need people out at the polls,” she said. “You are the greatest tool to fight back and grow our movement.”
The groups held their event just a day after Trump’s latest move in his attempt to reshape voting in America.
The Supreme Court upheld Trump’s expanded use of government data to search for noncitizens who are registered to vote. The impact of the decision is likely to be limited, other than to highlight Trump’s distrust of elections and his unproven claims that a large number of illegal voters are casting ballots.
Love Powers L.A., representing dozens of community groups and labor unions, provides education and training to Angelenos including Azenith Morales, Marise Roxas, and Liezl Japona, from left, of the Filipino Workers Center, on how to protect their vote and respond to threats of election interference.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
Breakout sessions covered how to plan a ballot party, activist dances and street activations.
Attendee Joe Pugh, who works for the community services organization ATAP, said she planned to host a block party to push the importance of voting in South-Central.
“They’re always talking about ‘my vote doesn’t count,’” she said.
During the poll monitoring session, Emma Olson Sharkey, a partner at the Political Law Group, outlined what poll watchers should look for and what they should do about it.
Their role, she said, is not to engage. They will observe and report any attempt to intimidate voters or poll workers.
The organization provides an online report form to report incidents.
“We hope it is boring,” Payne said. “In most cases, nothing will happen.”
Iraq has suspended Iranian flights at all four airports where they operated, following US sanctions targeting Iran’s aviation sector. Iran has warned that regional aviation could face wider disruption if its carriers are denied airport access.
MAJOR railway lines are closed due to a gas leak leaving commuters stranded in rush hour – with the disruption expected to last all day.
Passengers are urged not to travel between Reading and Swindon as engineers frantically attempt to fix the issue, while other routes are seeing significant delays.
Trains to Paddington from Reading cancelled at 6am this morningCredit: RedditThe station is among those affectedCredit: Getty
The gas leak close to railway land at Didcot Parkway in South Oxfordshire is expected to cause severe disruption throughout Wednesday.
The Reading-Didcot section of the route is the gateway from Paddington towards Swindon, Bristol, Bath, South Wales, Cheltenham and other parts of the West Country.
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Diversions are in place but Great Western Rail is cancelling some services outright because trains can’t get through Reading-Didcot.
A total of 72 services to and from Didcot are cancelled, while 39 have been axed at Oxford and 45 at Reading.
One social media user posted a photo from Swindon showing trains to Paddington cancelled at 6am.
They wrote: “Apparently there’s been a gas leak around Didcot Parkway so they’ve cancelled most of the services, and no replacement bus services running either.
“The staff at Swindon reckon this will last all day and probably tomorrow.”
Another person responded: “Absolutely ridiculous… not good enough.”
GWR is running roughly one train an hour Paddington-Bath/Bristol via a diversionary route – a fraction of the normal capacity.
It has warned only to travel if absolutely necessary.
Replacement buses are running between Swindon, Didcot and Reading but Network Rail says capacity won’t be enough for everyone.
CrossCountry is also telling passengers not to travel between Reading and Oxford – with one person responding to the company’s X post with: “Thanks for ruining my whole day.”
Network Rail said: “Engineers from gas distribution company SGN are on site working to rectify the problem as quickly and safely as possible.
“Network Rail and train operators are working together to manage the impact on passengers, but normal services cannot operate until the leak has been repaired because the railway falls within the safety exclusion zone.
“Severe disruption is expected to long-distance services that would usually travel through Didcot, and passengers are being warned that trains able to run either side of the affected area will be extremely busy.
“GWR will continue to operate as many trains as possible either side of the incident.”
GWR expects to be able to operate services between:
Reading and London Paddington
Swindon and Cheltenham Spa
Swindon and Chippenham/Bath/Bristol
South Wales to Bristol Temple Meads
Worcester and Oxford
An hourly service between London Paddington and Bath/Bristol via an alternative, diversionary route
Oxford and Didcot
An hourly service Bristol Temple Meads and Didcot
Usual timetabled services that do not run between Reading and Didcot
A limited bus replacement service will operate between Swindon, Didcot and Reading
