Disruption between Clapham Junction and Shepherds Bush expected until the end of the day  

Route(s) affected

London Overground between Clapham Junction and Stratford (London)

Southern between East Croydon and Watford Junction

Description

A fault with the signalling system between Clapham Junction and Shepherds Bush means all lines are disrupted. As a result, trains will be cancelled, delayed by up to 20 minutes or revised.

Disruption is expected until the end of the day.

London Overground customer advice:

Tickets will be accepted on London Buses and London Underground via any reasonable route.

Southern customer advice:

Southern services are currently unable to run between Clapham Junction and Watford Junction until tommorow.

If you're travelling between these stations, you will need to travel using an alternative route. You should leave up to 30 minutes extra to complete your journey.

How do I get from Clapham junction to Wembley Central, Harrow & Wealdstone or Watford Junction?

If you are travelling to one of these stations the quickest way from Clapham Junction is to travel to Victoria on an alternative Southern service. From there you can get the direct Victoria line to London Euston. At Euston you can catch either a London Overground or London Northwestern service to reach your destination.

Please be aware that this will take up to an additional 30 minutes to your journey today.

How do I get from Clapham junction towards Shepherd's Bush?

If require any of the stops from Clapham towards Shepherd's Bush then you should catch a London Overground service direct to your destination.

Please be aware this will take up to an additional 30 minutes longer than usual.

Your ticket will be accepted on the following alternative at no additional cost:

• Alternative Southern services to/from London Victoria

• Chiltern Railways services between London Marylebone and Wembley Stadium

• London Buses between Clapham Junction and Watford Junction

• London Northwestern Railway services between London Euston and Watford Junction

• London Overground services on routes via Willesden Junction (including to/from Clapham Junction, Watford Junction, and London Euston)

• London Underground services across London (including between Victoria and Euston)

Planning your journey:

You can use live departure boards, and a live map of the network.

You can see an alternative route guide.

You can also use Southern's app to find up-to-date information.

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

Can you tell me more about the incident?

A track circuit failure is affecting trains travelling in both directions on the route between Watford Junction and Clapham Junction.

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.