Major disruption at Cambridge expected until the end of the day 

Route(s) affected

CrossCountry services between Birmingham New Street and Stansted Airport

Great Northern services between Cambridge / Ely / Kings Lynn and London Kings Cross

Greater Anglia services between Cambridge and Ipswich, between Norwich and Stansted Airport, also between Cambridge North and London Liverpool Street

Thameslink services between Cambridge and Brighton

Description

A fault with the signalling system at Cambridge means that all lines are currently disrupted. As a result, trains may be cancelled, severely delayed by up to 60 minutes or revised.

Major disruption is expected until the end of the day.

CrossCountry customer advice:

You can use your ticket on the following services at no extra cost:

• Avanti West Coast between Birmingham New Street and London Euston

• Greater Anglia between Stansted Airport and London Liverpool Street

• London Underground between London Euston and London Liverpool Street

• Thameslink between Peterborough and London St Pancras International

If the train you were due to travel on is cancelled, you may use your existing ticket, at no extra cost, on the two CrossCountry services operating before or after your cancelled service.

If you decide to travel from a different station due to this disruption, and need to return to that station later, you will also be able to use your existing ticket to do this, at no extra cost.

Any seat reservations will not be carried over to another train, but coaches B, H and L are the unreserved coaches on CrossCountry services (where available), so you are advised to head to them.

Great Northern and Thameslink customer advice:

A significant signalling fault is causing major disruption to arrivals and departures at Cambridge Station.

Thameslink and Great Northern services will be heavily revised this afternoon. There will be a severely limited service between Royston and Cambridge in either direction until further notice.

If you are travelling on this route, your journey will take up to 60 minutes longer than usual, and you may need to change trains during your journey more than usual.

Thameslink services between Brighton and Cambridge:

These trains are suspended in both directions.

There is also major disruption to other Thameslink services between Brighton and London due to earlier signalling issues at City Thameslink.

No Thameslink trains can run between Royston and Cambridge.

Great Northern services between London King's Cross and Cambridge:

These trains are substantially disrupted, but teams will do what they can to run services as far north as Royston. There will be no service at Meldreth, Shepreth or Foxton, or directly between Royston and Cambridge.

Great Northern services between London King's Cross and Ely / King's Lynn:

These trains will run as a very limited shuttle service between Cambridge and King's Lynn. There will be no direct service between London King's Cross and Cambridge.

Alternative journey options:

Other train operators are also disrupted by this, so it is challenging to offer any alternative routes to get around the problem, especially between London and Cambridge.

London to Ely, changing at Peterborough:

• You may use Thameslink, Great Northern or LNER services between London and Peterborough (including trains from Kings Cross or St Pancras International), changing for trains to Ely

• You may use East Midlands Railway, CrossCountry or Greater Anglia services between Peterborough and Ely

London to Ely, changing at Norwich:

• You may use Greater Anglia services between London Liverpool Street and Norwich, changing for trains to Ely

• You may use East Midlands Railway or Greater Anglia services between Norwich and Ely

Cambridge to Ely:

Overall, an extremely limited service will operate. Your ticket will be accepted mutually between Great Northern, CrossCountry and Greater Anglia on this route.

To transfer between stations in London, you may use London Underground services on any reasonable route.

You may use your ticket at no extra cost on the following:

South of London:

• Southern or Thameslink services on any reasonable route

• Southeastern services on routes between Gillingham, Bromley South, and London Victoria, and also between Rainham and London Bridge (not including high-speed services)

• Metrobus services between Gatwick Airport, Horley, Salfords, Earlswood and Redhill, and also between Gatwick, Three Bridges, and Horsham, including Ifield and Littlehaven

• London Buses between Redhill, Merstham, Coulsdon South, Purley and the Croydon area, including Route 405

Across London:

• London Underground on any reasonable route across London, including transfers between London terminals

• London Buses on routes between:

  • the Sutton or Wimbledon areas and Central London

  • Croydon and Central London

  • London Bridge area, Blackfriars, St Pancras and Finsbury Park

• Elizabeth line services between Abbey Wood and Farringdon

North of London

• Great Northern services between London King's Cross, Finsbury Park, Stevenage and Cambridge

• LNER services between London King's Cross, Stevenage and Peterborough

• Greater Anglia services between London Liverpool Street, Cambridge, and Ely, and also between Peterborough and Ely

• East Midlands Railway between Peterborough and Ely

• Cross Country services between Peterborough, Ely, and Cambridge

• Arriva Buses on routes:

  • 98 between Hitchin and Baldock

  • 97 between Hitchin and Letchworth

  • 55 between Stevenage and Letchworth

  • 301 between St Albans and Stevenage via Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City and Knebworth

• Uno Buses on routes:

  • 635 between Hatfield and Hitchin (operates Monday-Friday)

  • 601 between Welwyn Garden City and Radlett (for Hatfield and St Albans City)

  • 602 between Hatfield, St Albans, and Radlett

  • 653 between St Albans, Hatfield, and Welwyn Garden City

Replacement buses:

A limited number of rail replacement buses are running between Royston and Cambridge. These are running on an ad-hoc basis, so please speak to station staff for more information.

Planning your journey:

You can check train departures from your station here:

• Thameslink live departure boards

• Great Northern live departure boards

You can view live maps of the network here:

• Thameslink live map

• Great Northern live map

You can see alternative route guides here:

• Thameslink alternative route guide

• Great Northern alternative route guide

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

You can also use our apps to find up-to-date information.

Greater Anglia customer advice:

Please Do Not Travel between Audley End and Cambridge until further notice.

Ticket restrictions for today have been lifted, and tickets dated for today Thursday 10 July will be valid tomorrow Friday 11 July.

If you have already started your journey, please speak to a member of staff or use a help point for assistance on completing your journey

Alternative travel options:

Regrettably Great Northern and Thameslink are unable to accept tickets via London Kings Cross to Cambridge as they are also severely affected by this disruption.

Advance purchase tickets holders will be allowed to travel on earlier or later trains if their booked service is cancelled.

Check your next train and alternative options using the new live map.

Additional information:

Local staff and Network Rail are working to deal with a track circuit issue at a junction near Cambridge Station. Track circuits detect and monitor the passage of trains, as part of the signalling system. In this case, the type of failure means that further trains cannot proceed through the area as normal.

Response staff are on site and working to fix the fault. With the current hot temperatures it is proving difficult to repair the damage until the temperature cools down.

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 set-down 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.