Disruption between East Croydon and Oxted expected until 20:00 

Route(s) affected

Southern between London Bridge and Uckfield, and also between London Victoria and East Grinstead

Thameslink between Bedford / West Hampstead Thameslink / London Bridge and East Grinstead

Description

A fault with the signalling system between East Croydon and Oxted means that fewer trains are able to run on all lines. Trains running between these stations may be delayed by up to 20 minutes or revised.

Disruption is expected until 20:00.

Customer advice:

Southern services between London Bridge and Uckfield, and between London Victoria and East Grinstead may be delayed by up to 20 minutes. There may also be some last minute cancellations and alterations. This is due to a signal failure in the Upper Warlingham area.

Thameslink peak services which usually run between Bedford and East Grinstead, will run between Bedford and Three Bridges only.

You can use your existing ticket at no extra cost on Southern Services between East Croydon and East Grinstead. This may take longer than usual so please leave at least 20 minutes to reach your destination.

You can also use your ticket on Southeastern services between Tunbridge Wells and London. Please be aware this may take you at least 30 minutes more than normal to reach your destination.

For the latest information, be sure to check before you travel using our online journey planners and live departure boards

Planning your journey:

You can view live departure boards and a live map of the network. You can use an alternative route guide, and if you're travelling in the London area, you can plan journeys on alternative routes by using the TfL Journey Planner.

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

Can you tell me more about the incident?

A track circuit failure will disrupt your journey in the area between East Croydon and Oxted.

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.