Lines reopened: disruption at Hastings expected until 21:30 

Route(s) affected

Southeastern between Hastings and London Charing Cross

Southern between Ashford International and Eastbourne, and also between Ore and Brighton / London Victoria

Description

Some lines have reopened following a safety inspection on a train at Hastings. Whilst lines through platform 3 at Hastings station are now open, lines through platform 4 still remain blocked.

As a result. trains running to / from Hastings may still be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised.

This is expected to cause disruption until 21:30.

Southeastern customer advice:

How does this affect my journey?

Trains are being held and will be delayed or revised.

What should I do?

Please check journey planners for up to date travel information.

Alternative Routes:

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

How can I stay up to date?.

You can follow us on Twitter (X) @SE_Railway, using #Hastings, or follow the Southeastern WhatsApp channel: http://bit.ly/seWAchannel

Southern customer advice:

All services are now able to run through Hastings to and from Ore, but please allow up to an extra 15 minutes to complete your journey and plan ahead.

Lines through Hastings station have reopened following an earlier train with damaged shoe gear equipment. Services are returning to their scheduled routes, though minor residual delays and short-notice platform revisions may still occur as we work to restore the full timetable.

Please continue to check live departure boards and station screens before boarding.

Planning your journey:

For help planning your journey, check live departure boards, view a live network map or see alternative route guides.

If you’re travelling within London, you can use the TfL Journey Planner.

Stay up to date on the move with Southern’s WhatsApp channel. Live updates are available Monday to Friday, 07:00–21:00.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

We've been informed of a problem with the shoe gear on a train in the area. To allow trains to draw power from the electric third rail, they are fitted with metal plates near the wheels, known as shoe gear.

Although this system is very reliable, there are still various issues which can occur. Shoe gear equipment is designed to detach if it comes into contact with an obstacle, rather than transferring damage to the rest of the train. For less significant items on the track, like bags or litter, the shoe gear may be obstructed and the items may need to be removed before the train can continue.

As trains have multiple sets of shoes, it's sometimes the case that a fault doesn't come to light immediately, but instead, it may only be noticed when the train travels over a specific part of the track where those shoes are in use. This means that an investigation may be needed to find out the location of the damage, and prevent further issues from occurring.

Train shoes can also be affected by other issues, such as problems with the power supply leading to electrical arcing.

When a train's shoe gear have been damaged, it may be unable to move until it can be towed clear by an undamaged train. Also, Fleet teams may need to attend to make sure the train is safe to move. Southern will also be working with Network Rail colleagues to deal with this issue.

Check before you travel:

You can check your journey using the National Rail 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.