Disruption to Thameslink services between Herne Hill / Denmark Hill and London Blackfriars expected until 09:00 

Route(s) affected

Between Brighton and Three Bridges / Bedford, between Sevenoaks / Orpington and London Blackfriars, between Sevenoaks and Finsbury Park / Welwyn Garden City, between Orpington / Sutton (Surrey) and West Hampstead Thameslink, between Orpington / Sutton (Surrey) and Luton, and also between Sutton (Surrey) and Kentish Town / St Albans City

Description

A fault with the signalling system between Loughborough Junction and Elephant & Castle means that the line between these stations will be blocked.

As a result, Thameslink trains between Herne Hill / Denmark Hill and London Blackfriars will be cancelled, delayed by up to 30 minutes or revised.

This is expected until 09:00.

Customer advice:

If you are travelling between Elephant & Castle and London Blackfriars you will need to allow up to an additional 30 minutes to complete your journey.

Please talk to station staff, look at information boards or check your journey planner for the latest information.

Service changes:

Trains that normally run between Orpington and Luton are cancelled.

Trains running between St Albans and Sutton may be delayed.

Travelling to Petts Wood or Orpington?

If you are travelling to Petts Wood or Orpington, you will need to change at Bromley South for an alternative Southeastern service.

Travelling from Petts Wood or Orpington?

If you are travelling from Orpington or Petts Wood, you will need to take an alternative Southeastern service to Bromley South. From Bromley South, you can catch a Thameslink service towards your destination.

Can I use my ticket with another operator?

To help with your journey this morning, you can travel on the following services at no additional cost;

• Alternative Thameslink services via London Blackfriars

• Southern services via London Victoria

• Southeastern services via London Bridge

• London Underground via London terminals

• London Buses between Bromley South and London Blackfriars

Using alternative travel may take longer than waiting for the next train. Please check your journey planner before you travel today.

Planning your journey:

Live departure boards can be viewed.

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 Loughborough Junction and Elephant & Castle.

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 several 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.