AT least 900 people were trapped in the Tube for up to two and half hours on Tuesday night after a woman threw herself in front a train.

Paramedics and London Underground staff carrying bottles of water were called to treat the Piccadilly line passengers for dehydration during the ordeal.

It began when a woman deliberately jumped in front of a train at Hyde Park Corner at 5.30pm.

Emergency Services and LU staff worked for about an hour to free the woman - who was alive - from under the train.

During the rescue effort the electrical current to the track had to be switched off between South Kensington and Hyde Park Corner, leaving two trains stalled in the tunnel.

A London Underground spokesman said the first train, with about 400 passengers on board, was taken to the platform at 6.47pm.

But the second train, with 500 passengers on board, would not move. A further train was brought up to the stalled train and the passengers were transferred.

They finally reached South Kensington station at 8.02pm - two and half hours after the start of the incident.

"London Underground staff were on hand at South Kensington to provide water and assist passengers," the LU spokesman said.

"Ambulances were also on hand as a precaution, but only one passenger required medical attention after feeling faint.

"London Underground apologises to passengers to the disruption to their journey and evening. Staff worked hard to get passengers off the trains as soon as possible, following the person under a train which was the cause of this incident."

Services in the south east were also disrupted yesterday after a man was struck and killed by a train.

The man is thought to have jumped in front of a train from a platform at Beckenham Junction station at 6.19am. British Transport Police attended the incident and are treating it as suicide.

The train involved was the 4.36am Ramsgate to Victoria service.

London Buses transported passengers between Bromley South and Denmark Hill. Passengers were also permitted to use the London Underground network.

The line reopened at 7.33am and as a result more than 40 trains were delayed or diverted until after 9am. The most extensive delay was a 48-minute wait for one service.

A South Eastern Trains spokesman said: "We naturally extend our sympathies to the friends and relatives of the individual concerned.

"The situation is being investigated by the police and we apologise for the delays and disruption inevitably caused to our passengers while this incident was being dealt with."