Lines reopened: disruption between Gatwick Airport and Haywards Heath expected until 22:30 

Route(s) affected

between Gatwick Airport and Haywards Heath

Description

Following a fault with the signalling system between Gatwick Airport and Balcombe all lines have reopened. As service recovers, trains running between Gatwick airport and Haywards Heath may still be delayed by up to 20 minutes, revised or cancelled.

Disruption is expected until 22:30.

Customer advice:

Services can now start to run between Three Bridges and Balcombe. You may still face some residual disruption whilst services returns to normal. We would advise leaving at least an extra 20 minutes to complete your journey.

Please ensure to check before you travel using our online journey planners and live departure boards for the latest information.

Planning your journey:

You can use live departure boards, a live map of the network and the alternative route guide to help you.

If you're travelling in the London area, you can plan journeys on alternative routes by using the TfL Journey Planner.

The Southern app will also help you plan your journey.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

A track circuit failure will disrupt your journey in the Balcombe area.

This part of the network uses track circuits to detect the position of trains. These are electrical systems which monitor whether a train is on a section of track. They operate as part of the signalling system, which is designed to be "fail safe".

When a track circuit fails, the signalling system will interpret this as a train remaining in place, even though there may not be a train present at all, or the previous service may have long since left the area.

As a result, further trains cannot be automatically allowed onto the relevant section of track. Train drivers will be stopped by red signals on approach. They will then get verbal permission from the signaller so that they can proceed, and will run at a heavily-reduced speed as far as the next signal. This is so that the drivers will stop safely if they see anything ahead of them.

In some areas, the sections between signals can be several miles long, so this can result in delays building up. Even with shorter sections of track affected, there would still be a delay of at least a few minutes to each journey.

Track circuit faults can be caused by a number of different issues, including electronic faults or obstructions on the track. Network Rail manage the signalling system, including track circuits, and their staff will be investigating as quickly as possible.

Check before you travel:

You can check your journey using the National Rail Enquiries real-time Journey Planner.

Compensation:

You may be entitled to compensation if you experience a delay in completing your journey today. Please keep your train ticket and make a note of your journey, as both will be required to support any claim.