Disruption at East Croydon expected until 09:00 

Route(s) affected

Gatwick Express between Brighton / Gatwick Airport and London Victoria

Southern between Portsmouth Harbour / Havant / Bognor Regis / Littlehampton / Horsham / Brighton / Gatwick Airport / Reigate / East Croydon and London Victoria, and between Ore / Hastings / Eastbourne and London Victoria, and between Uckfield / Caterham / Purley / East Croydon and London Bridge, and also between Uckfield and East Croydon

Thameslink between Brighton / Horsham / Three Bridges / East Grinstead / Gatwick Airport and Bedford, between East Grinstead and London Bridge / London St Pancras International, between Horsham and Peterborough, and also between Brighton and Cambridge

Description

A road vehicle had collided with a bridge at East Croydon. As a result, all lines are blocked.

Trains running through this station may be revised or delayed until lines reopen.

Disruption is expected until 09:00.

Customer advice:

No trains can run through East Croydon until further notice.

Gatwick Express, Southern and Thameslink would strongly advise delaying your travel until later. If you are already on a train your journey will take longer than usual.

Trains may be subject to delays and cancellations. Some services will only run on parts of their normal routes.

This means that you may need to use an alternative method to reach your destination. Please allow at least an extra 60 minutes additional time if you decide to travel now.

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

Can I use my ticket with another operator?

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

• London Buses between Purley and London terminals

• Southern between Three Bridges and London Victoria

• Thameslink between Brighton and London Bridge

If you can't get all the way to your destination tonight:

Gatwick Express, Southern and Thameslink won't leave you stranded. Please travel as far as you can towards your destination, either by train or by using an alternative route.

When you've made your journey as far as possible, please speak to station staff, where available.

If there are no staff, you can use the Emergency button on the station Help Point at stations run by Southern or Thameslink. At stations which are run by other train companies, please use the Information button on the Help Point, and the message will be passed through to us.

You can also speak to them on social media:

• X: Southern

• X: Thameslink

An alternative transport will be arranged for you, but this may take some time to arrive.

Planning your journey:

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

You can also view an 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 use the Southern / Thameslink app to find up-to-date information.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

We've been told that a road vehicle has struck a railway bridge in the East Croydon area.

This means that trains have been stopped on all lines over the bridge, so your train won't be able to travel on this route at the moment. Network Rail will be sending engineers as quickly as possible to check the bridge for any damage, and if it's safe to do so, the route will be reopened.

Gatwick Express, Southern and Thameslink take railway safety very seriously and need to make sure it's safe for services to run as planned.

If you see a vehicle hitting a bridge, or you think a bridge has been damaged, please report it using the phone number on the identification plate fixed to the bridge. If no plate is provided, please report it to the police by calling 999.

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.