Disruption between Crawley and Horsham expected until 16:30 

Route(s) affected

between Crawley and Horsham

Description

A points failure between Crawley and Horsham means all lines are blocked.

As a result, trains running between these stations may be delayed, cancelled, revised or diverted.

Disruption is expected to continue until 16:30.

Customer advice:

Services are currently unable to run between Crawley and Horsham.

If you're travelling through this area, you will need to travel using an alternative route. You should leave at least 40 minutes extra to complete your journey.

If you're travelling now, you should listen to announcements and check station screens for the latest information.

If you're planning a journey through this area, you should check journey planners before you travel.

Our expected service plan:

Thameslink services which normally run to / from Horsham are expected to terminate at, and start back from, Three Bridges instead.

Southern services which normally run via Horsham, between London Victoria and Portsmouth / Bognor Regis, will instead be diverted via an alternative route.

These services may run via Hove, not stopping between Three Bridges and Ford. Some of these services may run via Dorking between Horsham and London.

Planning your journey:

You can view live departure boards.

You can also view a live map of the network.

You can also see an alternative route guide.

The Southern / Thameslink apps will also help you plan your journey.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

A points failure has been reported, and this is preventing trains from travelling on this route.

Points are moveable sections of track which can send trains onto different routes at junctions. These are part of the signalling system, generally managed by Network Rail.

Points can stop moving correctly for a number of reasons. For example, there may be an obstruction in the moving parts, or the electronic control systems may have developed a fault.

There are various backup systems which allow signallers to try to "set" the points, and in some cases, the points may be available for trains in one of the directions they serve, but not another. However, with more severe failures like this one, the route is blocked entirely.

Network Rail have sent their specialist Signalling & Telecoms teams to site as a priority, and they will set up a safe method of working on the track. As soon as it's safe to go on the line, they will diagnose the fault and find any quick solutions to resolve it.

Whilst this is being done, Southern and Thameslink will be monitoring progress closely. At times, replacement parts may be needed, or specialist advice from suppliers, which is why some points failures take longer to resolve than others.

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.