Disruption between London Bridge and East Croydon and to Windrush line services expected until 17:00 

Route(s) affected

London Overground services between Highbury & Islington and West Croydon / Crystal Palace

Southern services between London Victoria and Littlehampton, and other routes through Norwood Junction

Thameslink services between Bedford and Three Bridges and between Cambridge and Brighton

Description

A fault with the signalling system at Norwood Junction is causing disruption to trains running through the station. Southern and Thameslink trains between London Bridge and London Overground Windrush line trains between Highbury & Islington and West Croydon / Crystal Palace may be delayed by up to 15 minutes, cancelled or diverted to run on different lines to normal.

Disruption is expected until 17:00.

A visual disruption map video is available.

Advice for Southern and Thameslink customers:

Services that run between London Bridge and East Croydon will be disrupted by a signalling failure near Norwood Junction. This means you will likely face some delays, cancellations and last minute alterations. Please leave at least 15 minutes extra time to reach your destination.

Please ensure to check before you travel using our online journey planners and live departure boards for the latest information.

Service Alterations:

We expect the below changes to services:

• Thameslink services that normally run between Brighton and Cambridge will be suspended. You will need to use an alternative route to reach your destination. You can use alternative Thameslink services to London St Pancras International. From there it is a short distance to London Kings Cross and you can use Great Northern services to Cambridge

• Southbound Thameslink services that run between Three Bridges and Bedford will be diverted via Streatham and will not call at stations between London Blackfriars and East Croydon. You will need to change at East Croydon, and catch a train back north towards your destination. Alternatively, you can use London Buses to complete your journey. Northbound trains will run as normal

• Southern services between London Victoria and Littlehampton will call additionally at Three Bridges

Please note that using an alternative route may take you longer to reach your destination. Please leave at least an extra 15 minutes to reach your destination.

Ticket Acceptance:

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

• Alternative Thameslink services between Brighton and all London stations

• Southern services between Brighton and all London stations

• Great Northern services between London Kings Cross and Cambridge

• London Underground between all London terminals

• London Buses between East Croydon and London Blackfriars

Planning your journey:

Thameslink's live departure boards can be found here.

You can view a live map of the network here.

You can also see an alternative route guide here.

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

Thameslink's app will also help you plan your journey.

Advice for London Overground customers:

Trains to / from West Croydon will be revised to start and terminate at alternative stations along the route such as New Cross Gate and Surrey Quays, not calling at stations between New Cross Gate / Surrey Quays and West Croydon.

Some trains to / from Crystal Palace may also be revised to start and terminate at alternative stations along the route such as New Cross Gate and Surrey Quays. However, most trains are running on this route.

You can use your ticket at no extra cost on London Buses via any reasonable route.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

A track circuit failure will disrupt your journey in the Norwood Junction area.

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. We're closely monitoring progress updates, and we'd like to thank you for your patience.

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.