Residual disruption between Hitchin and London expected until 17:00 

Route(s) affected

between Hitchin and London

Description

A fault on a train earlier today at Hitchin caused disruption to some lines towards London.

Services between Hitchin and London are now returning to normal, but may still be delayed by up to 20 minutes or revised.

Disruption is expected until 17:00

Customer advice:

If you are travelling from Hitchin towards London some services may be cancelled, delayed or altered. You will need to allow at least 20 minutes to complete your journey today.

Please check journey planners, listen to staff announcements and check station screen for more information.

Planning your journey:

You can check train departures from your station here:

- Thameslink live departure boards

- Great Northern live departure boards

You can view live maps of our network here:

- Thameslink live route map

- Great Northern live route map

You can also see our alternative route guides here:

- Thameslink alternative route guide

- Great Northern alternative route guide

If you're travelling in the London area, you can plan journeys on alternative routes by using the TfL Journey Planner here.

The Great Northern and Thameslink apps will also help you plan your journey.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

There was a report of a fault on a train in the Hitchin area. This is now causing delays to other services travelling through this area.

Normally, when a fault on a train occurs, train crews will gather details and report this to fleet teams. If possible, the defect will be fixed promptly, and they will get the train on the way. 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, known as "fitters" will be sent. Fitters are based in key locations around the network, 24 hours a day, and they are able to attend anywhere on the routes. Once they are on site, progress updates will be monitored and ensure that the railway can be reopened as promptly as possible.

Until the defective train can be moved, Great Northern and Thameslink 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. Trains 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 will 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 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.