Disruption between Tonbridge and Redhill expected until 14:30 

Route(s) affected

Between Tonbridge and Redhill

Description

A fault with the signalling system between Tonbridge and Redhill means that some lines are blocked. Trains running between these stations may be cancelled, delayed or revised.

Disruption is expected until 14:30.

Customer advice:

You may need to use an alternative method of travel and allow extra time to travel to your destination today.

Thameslink services running via Redhill are being delayed by 10 to 15 minutes.

Your ticket will be accepted with no extra cost on the following:

• Thameslink services between Redhill, London Bridge and Sevenoaks

• Southern services between Redhill, East Croydon and Edenbridge Town

• Southeastern services between Hastings, Tonbridge and London

The following stations are not currently being served by Southern services:

• Tonbridge

• Leigh

• Penshurst

• Edenbridge

• Godstone

• Nutfield

If you are travelling to / from Edenbridge you can use alternative Southern services via Edenbridge Town, which is a 17 minute distance from Edenbridge station, to connect to services at East Croydon.

If you are travelling to / from Tonbridge you can use Southeastern services to connect to alternative trains at Hastings for Brighton or alternatively London Bridge for Brighton mainline services.

For all other stations please speak to station staff or press the green button on a help point for further assistance.

Planning your journey:

You can view live departure boards.

You can see a live map of the Southern network.

You can also use 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.

The Southern app will also help you plan your journey.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

This part of the network uses axle counters to detect whether trains are in the area. These are electrical systems which check the passage of train wheels and 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 an axle counter 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.

Axle counter faults can be caused by a number of different issues, including electronic faults and debris coming into contact with them. Network Rail manage the signalling system, including axle counters, 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.