Paddington rail disruption to Christmas getaway 21 December 2012 Last updated at 08:02 Passengers travelling to and from London's Paddington station have been hit by delays and cancellations. Heathrow Connect and Heathrow Express services, from Paddington to Heathrow airport, have been suspended. First Great Western trains in and out of Paddington experienced cancellations and delays by up to 60 minutes. Friday is expected to be London's busiest day of the year for road, rail and air travel as thousands of people begin their festive getaway. Tube delays According to Network Rail, a fire in an equipment room next to the track in west London on Thursday morning meant only two of the four lines were open on Friday morning. Network Rail said the fire damage was so extensive it had had to rebuild the equipment room from the ground up, but it hoped to have all lines back open "some time this morning." No trains were running between Paddington and Heathrow Airport, putting extra pressure on the Tube network where there were delays on the Jubilee Line following a signal failure. Heathrow Airport said it was expecting 123,000 passengers to depart and 104,000 to arrive. At Gatwick about 1.5 million people are expected to travel through the airport between 17 December and 2 January. Volunteers from the London 2012 Olympic Games have been drafted in to help passengers at both airports. They will be handing out children's packs and giving safety advice. On the roads, dozens of sets of roadworks have been lifted on major routes but the Highways Agency's urging drivers heading away for Christmas to check the weather forecast, with heavy rain in much of the country expected to cause more flooding.