Lines reopened: Disruption between Horsham and Arundel expected until 16:30 

Route(s) affected

Between London Victoria and Bognor Regis / Portsmouth & Southsea / Portsmouth Harbour, and also between Horsham and Bognor Regis / Portsmouth Harbour

Description

Following an earlier safety inspection of the track between Horsham and Arundel, lines have now reopened. Whilst services recover, trains running between these stations may still be cancelled, delayed by up to 45 minutes or diverted.

This is expected until 16:30.

Customer advice:

Safety inspection work is complete and the line between Horsham and Arundel has reopened.

If you are travelling between Horsham and Arundel, you can use your normal route. Please continue to allow an extra 30 to 45 minutes to complete your journey, as services remain subject to delays, cancellations, and short-notice revisions while Southern work to get trains and crew back into position.

Southbound calls will resume shortly at the following stations with the first southbound service being the 14:35 London Victoria to Bognor Regis service.

• Christ's Hospital

• Billingshurst

• Amberley

• Arundel

Ticket acceptance:

Your ticket may still be used at no extra cost on the following:

• Alternative Southern services towards your destination

• Alternative South Western Railway services between Portsmouth Harbour and Clapham Junction

• Stagecoach routes:

  • 500 Littlehampton, Barnham, Chichester

  • 9 between Arundel, Littlehampton and Worthing

• Compass Bus 100 between Horsham, Billingshurst and Pulborough

Planning your journey:

For help planning your journey, check live departure boards, view a live network map or see alternative route guides.

If you’re travelling within London, you can use the TfL Journey Planner.

Stay up to date on the move with Southern’s WhatsApp channel. Live updates are available Monday to Friday, 07:00–21:00.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

Earlier this afternoon, Network Rail was notified of a suspected track defect between Billingshurst and Pulborough.

For safety reasons, train movements through the area were suspended while specialist permanent way engineers attended the site to conduct a physical inspection of the rails and trackbed.

Network Rail response engineers have carried out safety assessments and are completing the final checks required to confirm the track is safe for train movements.

Because trains and crew were diverted or held during the inspection, some residual delays and tactical alterations will continue over the coming hours while we restore the full timetable.

Check before you travel:

You can check your journey using the National Rail 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.