Disruption between Barnham and Ford expected until 20:00 

Route(s) affected

between Barnham and Ford

Description

A fault with the signalling system between Barnham and Ford means that fewer trains than normal are able to run on some lines. As a result, trains running between these stations may be revised.

Disruption is expected until 20:00.

Customer advice:

Services that run between Barnham and Ford will be disrupted by a signalling failure.

The following alterations to services is expected:

• Trains that normally run between London Victoria and Bognor Regis/Portsmouth will run to Bognor Regis only, and won't split at Horsham. Please change at Barnham for alternative Southern services to complete your journey.

• Peak trains that normally run between London Bridge and Bognor Regis will terminate at Littlehampton. It may be easier to use a different train to normal, or change at Littlehampton.

Using an alternative route may take more time than usual, so please leave at least an extra 20 minutes.

Exceptions to the service changes :

The following trains will run as advertised:

• 19:35 London Victoria to Portsmouth Harbour.

• 20:35 Horsham to Bognor Regis.

• 22:05 Portsmouth Harbour to Gatwick Airport

Please ensure to check before you travel using online journey planners and live departure boards for the latest information.

Planning your journey:

You can use live departure boards, a live map of the network and the alternative route guide to help you.

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 disrupting trains which travel from Barnham to Ford.

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.