Lines reopened: disruption through Herne Hill expected until 22:30 

Route(s) affected

Thameslink between Bedford / St Albans City and Sutton (Surrey)

Description

Lines have reopened following an earlier broken down train at Herne Hill. As service recovers, services running in the Herne Hill area may be delayed by up to 50 minutes, cancelled or revised.

Disruption is expected until 22:30.

Thameslink customer advice:

An earlier broken down train in the Herne Hill area was causing some disruption to trains between Elephant & Castle and Tulse Hill. This train has now moved. There may be some residual disruption whilst service returns to a normal timetable.

Ensure to leave at least 30 minutes longer than usual and plan ahead of travelling.

Please check before you travel using online journey planners and live departure boards.

Ticket Acceptance:

You can use your existing ticket at no extra cost on the following services:

• Alternative Thameslink services between all London stations and St Albans City

• Southern services between all London stations

• London Underground between all London Terminals

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 Thameslink's WhatsApp channel. Live updates are available Monday to Friday, 07:00–21:00.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

There was earlier reports of a fault on a train, and this wascausing delays to other services travelling through this area.

Normally, when a fault on a train occurs, crews will gather details and report this to the Fleet teams. If possible, the defect will be fixed promptly, and operators can get the train on the way. The initial steps are designed to take around 10 minutes.

However, sometimes the fault cannot be fixed in this time frame. In this case, wherever possible, the train will be taken out of use and sent to a depot. This does take additional time, as the crew will need to make sure that everyone's managed to leave the train.

If this can't be done either, specialist engineers will be sent to site, known as "fitters". There are fitters based in key locations around the network, 24 hours a day, and they are able to attend anywhere on the route. Once they are on site, they then monitor progress updates and ensure that the railway can be reopened as promptly as possible.

Until the defective train can be moved, train operators will try to find a way to get other trains around the issue. This depends how many lines are available, and whether the signalling equipment is set up to allow trains to be routed around the problem. This is more often the case on major routes, but not always. Operators will work with Network Rail's controllers to decide how many more trains can be sent through the area, and if this isn't possible, they can see what alternative solutions are available to help you continue your journey.

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.