Great Western Railway (GWR) paid the operations investigations manager £500 for a short driving shift to keep services running, according to train drivers union Aslef.
Some 91,122 Elizabeth line trains were planned to operate through the capital between July and September this year, meaning 4,740 would have failed to run either completely or in part.
Photos at Tottenham Court Road on London s newest line show grey outlines of people - left by travellers sitting on benches. There are also similar marks at Liverpool Street station.
This week the Elizabeth line has already suffered four separate issues since yesterday morning, including two faulty trains at Paddington and Whitechapel and a signal failure at Twyford.
EXCLUSIVE: Elizabeth line disruption in London is now an almost daily occurrence, with reasons for delays ranging from track faults to broken trains and signalling issues to overhead cable problems.