Lines reopened: disruption in the Gillingham (Kent) area expected until 20:00 

Route(s) affected

Southeastern between Dover Priory and London Cannon Street / London Victoria, between Ramsgate / Gillingham (Kent) and London Victoria, and also between Ramsgate / Faversham and London St Pancras International

Thameslink between Rainham (Kent) and Luton

Description

An earlier fault with the signalling system at Gillingham (Kent) is causing disruption to trains running through this area. Additionally, an earlier fault with the signalling system at Slade Green means that services may still be cancelled, delayed by up to 40 minutes, diverted or revised as a result.

This is expected until 20:00.

Southeastern customer advice:

A fault with the signalling system has been reported in the Gillingham area. The fault has now been fixed and trains are able to travel via their scheduled routes. However services are also being impacted by delays because of signalling issues at Brixton.

How does this affect my journey?

Services are now able to travel via their scheduled routes, however alterations are delays are likely whilst we work to get services back to their normal working times.

What should I do?

Please allow extra time for your journey, and check before you travel.

Alternative routes:

For details of alternative routes that may be available to complete your journey, please refer to our Alternative routes during disruption maps.

How can I stay up to date?

You can follow Southeastern on Twitter (X) @SE_Railway or follow the Southeastern WhatsApp channel.

Thameslink customer advice:

Journeys between London Bridge and Gillingham (Kent) will encounter delays and postential short-notice alterations this afternoon, following multiple incident affecting this route.

Some Thameslink trains that normally run between London Bridge and Dartford will be running on a divertion route via Lewisham and Bexleyheath. This means the following station will have no Thameslink service in the direction of Dartford:

• Deptford

• Greenwich

• Maze Hill

• Westcombe Park

• Charlton

• Woolwich Arsenal

• Plumstead

• Abbey Wood

• Slade Green

Please note, Southeastern services are still able to call at these stations.

Please check live journey planners to see if your train is on one of these diversionary routes.

Tickets are being accepted at no extra cost on:

• Alternative Thameslink and Southeastern services between London and Rainham (Kent)

• London Underground via any reasonable route

• London Buses on any route between between London Bridge and Dartford, including Elephant & Castle and Denmark Hill

• Southeastern railway services between London, Gravesend and Rainham (Kent). Their services also run via Bromley as an alternative route. London Charing Cross is 1.5 miles from London Victoria and roughly 20 minutes away by TfL services

• Docklands Light Railway via any reasonable route

• Elizabeth line between Farringdon and Abbey Wood

Planning your journey:

Live departure boards can be viewed, as well as a live map of the Thameslink network.

You can also see 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 Thameslink app will also help you plan your journey.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

Trains may be delayed due to a fault with a signal in this area.

Railway signals are designed to warn drivers that they have to stop because the system can't yet confirm that the route ahead is clear. In most places, the signalling system will show a green light, or aspect, when the track is clear for a long distance ahead, and drivers will then be shown one or two yellow lights to warn them when they are approaching a red signal. This means that they can anticipate the amount of braking that's required to stop before they reach another train or any form of problem on the line.

Signalling runs on "fail safe" principles, so if the signals can't step through the usual colours, they will instead show a more restrictive colour - for example, yellow instead of green. This means drivers will be expecting to come to a stop, but in fact, the route ahead may still be clear. This leads to delays whilst trains proceed more slowly than usual.

The signalling system is maintained by Network Rail, and operators are working closely with them to diagnose the fault and make sure it is fixed as quickly as possible. Until this is done, staff will be closely monitoring the train service and doing their best to keep to the timetable.

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.