Disruption between Eastbourne and Hastings expected until 11:30  

Route(s) affected

Between London Victoria / Brighton and Ore, between Brighton and Hastings, and also between Eastbourne and Ashford International

Description

A fault with the signalling system in the Bexhill area means that trains between Eastbourne and Hastings may be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised.

We expect this to continue until 11:30.

Customer advice:

If you are travelling between Eastbourne and Hastings please allow up to at least 30 minutes to complete your journey today. Make sure to plan ahead as some services may have a different calling pattern than usual.

How are Southern changing their service?

While this disruption is ongoing, Southern will be making the following changes to services:

• Trains that normally run between London Victoria and Ore will now only run between London Victoria and Eastbourne. If you require any stops between Eastbourne and Ore you will need to change onto another Southern service at Eastbourne or St Leonards Warrior Square

• Trains that normally run between Eastbourne and Ashford International will continue to run but will run non stop between Eastbourne and St Leonards Warrior Square. If you require any of the stations in-between Eastbourne and St Leonards Warrior Square you will need to change onto another Southern service at Eastbourne or St Leonards Warrior Square

Please talk to station staff, look at information boards or check your journey planner for the latest information.

Can I use my ticket with another operator?

You can travel on the following services at no additional cost;

• Alternative Southern services

• Stagecoach Bus 99 - Eastbourne, Pevensey Bay, Bexhill, Glynde (Town), St Leonards Warrior Square, Hastings

Replacement buses:

Replacement buses have been requested to run, but we haven't had confirmation of these yet.

If a bus service can be provided, we'll let you know by updating this message.

Bus journeys will take longer than your usual train journey on this route, and if we can, we'll provide a time estimate here.

Planning your journey:

To help you plan your journey, you can use the live departure boards.

There is also a live map of the network and an alternative route guide available.

The Southern app will also help you with your journey.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

An axle counter failure is affecting trains travelling in both directions on the route between Eastbourne and Hastings.

This part of the network uses axle counters to detect whether trains are in the area. These are electrical systems which check the passage of train wheels and 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 an axle counter 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.

Axle counter faults can be caused by a number of different issues, including electronic faults and debris coming into contact with them. Network Rail manage the signalling system, including axle counters, 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.