Disruption through Herne Hill expected until 12:15 

Route(s) affected

Southeastern between Ramsgate / Dover Priory / Ashford International / Orpington and London Victoria

Thameslink between Sutton and St Albans City

Description

A fault with the signalling system at Herne Hill means some lines are blocked. Trains running through the station may be delayed by up to 25 minutes or revised.

Disruption is expected until 12:15.

Southeastern customer advice:

What's happened?

There has been a fault with the signalling system in the Herne Hill area. Services currently can't run towards London Blackfriars, and services to London Victoria will be subject to delays.

How does this affect my journey?

Trains aren't able to travel between Herne Hill and London Blackfriars and so will be subject to delays and alterations. Trains to London Victoria are able to run, but may be subject to delays because of the fault.

What should I do?

Allow extra time to make your journey and use the live departure pages for travel updates.

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:

If you are travelling between Sutton and St Albans City, you will need to use an alternative service to complete your journey. This is due to a fault with the signalling system in the area.

Your journey may take longer than normal and you should allow an additional 30 minutes extra to reach your destination

For the latest information, check station screens and use our online journey planners.

Ticket acceptance:

Your ticket can be used at no extra cost on the following;

• Alternative Thameslink services between East Croydon and central London

• Southern services between Sutton / East Croydon and London Terminals

• Southeastern services between Herne Hill and London Victoria

• South Western Railway services between Epsom / Wimbledon and London Waterloo

• London Underground between London Terminals

• London Buses between Sutton and London Bridge

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

Planning your journey:

You can check your journey using the live departure boards, and you can view a live map of the 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?

A track circuit failure is affecting trains travelling in both directions on the route between Herne Hill and London Blackfriars.

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.