Major disruption between London St Pancras International and Luton Airport Parkway expected until the end of the day 

Route(s) affected

East Midlands Railway services between London St Pancras International and Corby / Nottingham / Sheffield / Lincoln

Thameslink services between Brighton / Haywards Heath / Horsham / Three Bridges / Gatwick Airport / East Grinstead / Rainham (Kent) and Bedford, between Rainham (Kent) / Gillingham (Kent) / Orpington / Elephant & Castle and Luton, and also between Sutton and St Albans City

Description

Damage to the overhead electrical wires at Elstree & Borehamwood means some lines are disrupted. As a result, trains running between London St Pancras International and Luton Airport Parkway may be cancelled, delayed by up to 60 minutes or revised.

We expect major disruption to continue until the end of the day.

A visual disruption map video is available.

East Midlands Railway customer advice:

What has happened?

There is damage to the overhead electrical wires at Elstree. This is between London St Pancras and Luton and is disrupting our trains on the London St Pancras International / Nottingham / Sheffield and London St Pancras International / Luton Airport Parkway / Corby route.

Network Rail are on site, investigating the problem.

How does this affect my train?

At present, services on the Connect route will be withdrawn and Intercity services are expected to run with delays of up to 60 minutes.

Network Rail have examined the extent of the damage and it is now expected that trains will remain disrupted throughout the day.

How do I get where I need to be?

You should continue to travel as originally planned however your journey may be delayed or altered by up to 60 minutes.

East Midlands Railway have arranged for your tickets to be used at no extra cost with Thameslink between London St Pancras International and Bedford, in both directions. Please be aware that Thameslink will also be affected by this problem.

East Midlands Railway are looking into stopping their Intercity services additionally at Luton Airport Parkway, Bedford and Wellingborough. Once this has been confirmed, these will be added to the live journey planners.

East Midlands Railway will be running a shuttle service between Kettering and Corby in both directions. You can change at Kettering for connections to the south.

Arrangements have also been made for your tickets to be used via the following routes:

Sheffield

You may travel to Doncaster with CrossCountry, TransPennine Express or Northern where you should change for a train to London Kings Cross. It is likely to take between 120 and 150 minutes to complete this journey. LNER, who run the trains between Doncaster and London Kings Cross recommend booking a seat reservation. This can be done up to 5 minutes before the train departs on the LNER website. Visit the East Midlands Railway website for lots of useful information about what to expect when travelling via London Kings Cross.

Derby/Chesterfield

You may travel to Birmingham New Street with CrossCountry where you should change for a train to London Euston with London Northwestern Railway or Avanti West Coast. It is likely to take between 150 and 180 minutes to complete this journey. Visit the East Midlands Railway website for lots of useful information about what to expect when travelling via London Euston.

Nottingham

You may travel to Grantham with East Midlands Railway where you should change for a train to London Kings Cross. It is likely to take between 120 and 150 minutess to complete this journey. LNER, who run the trains between Grantham and London Kings Cross recommend booking a seat reservation. This can be done up to 5 minutes before the train departs on the LNER website. Visit the East Midlands Railway website for lots of useful information about what to expect when travelling via London Kings Cross.

Leicester

You may travel to Nuneaton with CrossCountry where you should change for a train to London Euston with Avanti West Coast or London Northwestern Railway. It is likely to take 120 minutes to complete this journey. Visit the East Midlands Railway website for lots of useful information about what to expect when travelling via London Euston.

All of these alternative route options are available in the opposite direction too. Don’t worry about your ticket, other train operators know about the disruption to your journey and your ticket can be used at no extra cost on their trains.

Your tickets can be used at no extra cost to travel between London main stations on the London Underground.

Thameslink customer advice:

The overhead wires are damaged in the Elstree & Borehamwood area, disrupting Thameslink and East Midlands Railway services.

Because of this issue, fewer lines than usual are open between West Hampstead Thameslink and St Albans City.

Trains may be delayed by up to 30-60 minutes in the area, and there will be a number of service changes and cancellations.

Please check online journey planning tools, and when travelling, listen to announcements and check station screens. You will need to leave plenty of extra time for your journey, and remaining train services will be very busy.

If there is a long wait until the next train, you may wish to consider using an alternative route, even though this may also take longer than usual.

Service changes:

The following changes will take place, affecting trains in both directions on each route.

For routes which are not on the list below (including our Brighton - Bedford and Rainham - Luton routes), we expect trains will run, but may have delays and ad hoc changes at times.

East Grinstead - Bedford (peak times only):

These trains will generally be cancelled.

Alternative Southern services operate between East Grinstead and London, and alternative Thameslink services run between London and Bedford, with delays.

Sutton - St Albans City:

A large number of these trains will be cancelled.

A large number of alternative routes exist in South London, including London Buses, London Underground routes, Southern, South Western Railway, Southeastern and London Trams. In North London, alternative Thameslink services will run, with delays.

Orpington - Kentish Town - Luton:

These trains will generally be cancelled.

Southeastern services operate between Orpington and Central London, and north of London, alternative Thameslink services will run, with delays.

Three Bridges - Bedford via Redhill:

These trains will be cancelled for most of their route, but may be able to operate a limited shuttle service north of the affected area.

Alternative Southern and Thameslink services operate via Redhill, and north of London, alternative Thameslink services will run, with delays.

Horsham - Peterborough via Redhill:

These trains will stop additionally at Salfords and Earlswood, where they do not already do so.

Alternative journey options:

Your Thameslink ticket will be accepted at no extra cost on:

North of London:

• East Midlands Railway services, where available, between Bedford, Luton, Luton Airport Parkway and London St Pancras International

• London Northwestern Railway services between:

  • Bedford and Bletchley

  • St Albans Abbey (25 minutes from St Albans City) and Watford Junction

  • Bletchley, Watford Junction and London Euston (these trains do have some unrelated disruption)

• Uno Buses on the following routes:

  • 602 between Radlett, St Albans City and Hatfield

  • 610 between Luton, Harpenden and Hatfield

  • 653 between St Albans, Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City

• Arriva Buses on the following routes:

  • A / Z / X1 / X2 / X3 between Luton Airport, Luton Airport Parkway (Kimpton Road) and Luton

  • 4 / 4A / 23 / 27 / 28 between Leagrave and Luton

  • 100 / 101 between Luton Airport Parkway, Luton, Hitchin and Stevenage

  • 301 between St Albans, Hatfield, Welwyn North (Town), Welwyn Garden City, Knebworth and Stevenage

  • 302 between St Albans, Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City

  • 321 between Luton, Harpenden, St Albans and Watford Junction

  • 724 / 725 between St Albans City, Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City, and also on to Watford Junction

• Great Northern and alternative Thameslink services on any reasonable route, including services between Hitchin, Stevenage, Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield and Central London

  
  

PLEASE NOTE: THERE ARE NO DEDICATED REPLACEMENT BUSES BETWEEN THE BEDFORD-LONDON ROUTE AND THE ROUTE VIA HITCHIN, STEVENAGE, WELWYN GARDEN CITY AND HATFIELD.

Across London:

• London Buses serving stations between the Elstree area, Central London, Sutton and Wimbledon

• London Underground across London on any reasonable route

• London Trams between Wimbledon, Mitcham Junction, West Croydon and East Croydon

• South Western Railway services between London Waterloo and Wimbledon

• Southeastern services between London Victoria and Herne Hill

South of London:

• Southern services on any reasonable route to & from London Bridge or London Victoria, including routes via Sutton, and via East Croydon, Redhill and Gatwick Airport

• Gatwick Express services between London Victoria, Gatwick Airport, Haywards Heath and Brighton

• Southeastern services between Central London and Orpington, Dartford or Rainham (excluding High Speed services between London St Pancras International and Gravesend)

• Great Western Railway services between Gatwick Airport and Redhill

Airport journeys:

If you are planning to use a Thameslink service to Luton Airport Parkway or Gatwick Airport, connecting with airline departures, please leave plenty of extra time.

Planning your journey:

You can view Thameslink's live departure boards, and see a live map of the Thameslink network. This will show where your journey is likely to be affected.

You can also view Thameslink's 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 the Thameslink app to find up-to-date information.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

Overhead wire damage has been reported on the lines used by express services through the Elstree Tunnels area, near Elstree & Borehamwood station.

Trains will all now have to take it in turns to use the other pair of lines, usually used by stopping services. This would normally cause major congestion. To help prevent this, there will be a reduced number of trains in the area.

Network Rail will also be working as quickly as possible to repair the overhead wires, and response staff are on site in the area.

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.