Lines reopened: major disruption to East Midlands Railway services between Bedford and London St Pancras International expected until 14:00 

Route(s) affected

All East Midlands Railway services to / from London St Pancras International

Description

The emergency services have completed their work following an earlier incident where a person was hit by a train. This has allowed all lines between Bedford and Luton Airport Parkway to reopen. Whilst service recovers, trains may still be delayed by up to 60 minutes, revised or cancelled.

Major disruption is expected until 14:00.

A visual disruption map video is available.

Thameslink are also affected by this incident, along with other problems across their network.

If you've been affected by what happened on the network today, there is always someone to talk to. You can contact the Samaritans on 116 123 from any phone for a confidential chat.

Customer advice:

Network Rail have reopened part of the the route, however due to the severity of the disruption it may be some time until East Midlands Railway are able to run a full service again. There may be amendments and late notice cancellations while the service recovers.

At present East Midlands Railway are expecting the line to re-open in the next 2 hours. As soon as the line is open again, the priority will be to get trains running to their advertised times again. It is expected the advertised timetable will resume on the affected routes by approximately 13:50.

How do I get where I need to be?

You should continue to travel as originally planned however your journey may be delayed by 60 minutes. We are sorry for the delay to your journey today.

East Midlands Railway are currently looking at alternative arrangements to keep you on the move. Please remember that this can take time and be assured that staff are working tirelessly to arrange this as quickly as possible for you.

East Midlands Railway trains are likely to experience extended delays or alterations. You should use alternative routes which will be most comfortable and the quickest way to get where you need to be.

All of these alternative route options are available in the opposite direction too. Don’t worry about your ticket, other train operators know about the disruption to your journey and your ticket can be used at no extra cost on their trains.

Your ticket can be used at no extra cost to travel via the following alternative routes:

Sheffield

You can travel to Doncaster with CrossCountry, TransPennine Express or Northern, where you can change to and LNER service to London Kings Cross. LNER recommend booking a seat reservation. This can be done up to 5 minutes before the train departs.

It is likely to take between 2 and 2.5 hours to complete this journey.

Derby / Chesterfield

You can travel to Birmingham New Street with CrossCountry, where you can change to an Avanti West Coast or London Northwestern Railway service to London Euston.

It is likely to take between 2.5 and 3 hours to complete this journey.

Nottingham

You can travel to Grantham with East Midlands Railway, where you can change to an LNER service to London Kings Cross. LLNER recommend booking a seat reservation. This can be done up to 5 minutes before the train departs.

It is likely to take between 2 and 2.5 hours to complete this journey.

Leicester

You can travel to Nuneaton with CrossCountry, where you can change to Avanti West Coast or London Northwestern Railway services to London Euston.

It is likely to take 2 hours to complete this journey.

Traveling through London

To help you to travel between stations in London you may use your tickets on the London Underground at no extra cost.

You may travel on Thameslink services between Luton and London St Pancras International at no extra cost.

Rail replacement transport

A bus will depart at 11:00 from Bedford to Luton.

Another bus will depart at 11:30 from Luton to Bedford to keep you on the move.

You can find out more information about replacement bus pick up locations.

Check before you travel:

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

For helpful advice if you need to travel on a rail replacement service, including accessibility and bicycle information, please use our Rail Replacement Services page.

You can find the pick-up and drop-off location of rail replacement services by checking station signage or by searching for your station on our Find a Station page.

Please be advised that replacement vehicles may be busier than usual, and you should allow extra time for your journey.

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.