Rush hour panic: King’s Cross closed due to fire alarm

London’s King’s Cross station has been evacuated following a fire alarm.

Commuters were initially told there had been an ’emergency’ at the station, one of the capital’s busiest.

Photographs showed dozens of commuters outside, where an LED sign by the entrance read: ‘Emergency. Do not enter.’

As passengers left their platforms, the ‘Inspector Sands’ announcement was being played.

The phrase is a cordwood used by transport officials to alert station staff of a fire.

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. Yes, I’m weird. pic.twitter.com/7IxDGpv0ku

— Stephen Hill (@StephenJAHill) May 1, 2025

Great Northern said on X that at about 7.20pm that ‘all lines from the station are currently blocked’.

‘If you are travelling now, you will need to use an alternative route and your journey will take longer than usual to complete,’ the railway operator added.

The fire alarm was pulled due to ‘reports of smoke linked to a retail unit’, Network Rail said.

ℹ️ 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. pic.twitter.com/v7E8b5OIbw

— Network Rail East Coast (@NetworkRailEC) May 1, 2025

The station has since reopened.

Great Northern said that the minutes-long closure may cause delays of up to 20 minutes for commuters during rush hour.

‘Please check your journey before you travel,’ it added.

‘It may be faster to travel via an alternative train from London St Pancras, which is a five 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.’