Disruption between Portsmouth Harbour and Fratton expected until 17:30  

Route(s) affected

All Great Western Railway services to / from Portsmouth Harbour

Southern between Brighton and Portsmouth & Southsea, and between London Victoria / Horsham and Portsmouth Harbour

All South Western Railway services to / from Portsmouth Harbour

Description

A points failure between Portsmouth Harbour and Fratton means some lines are blocked. As a result, trains may be cancelled or revised.

Disruption is expected until 17:30.

Great Western Railway customer advice:

Trains are unable to enter Portsmouth Harbour, so trains will terminate at Portsmouth & Southsea.

If your train is cancelled, you may travel on either of the two services before, or two services after, your original train. If these are peak services or less flexible, you can still travel with your original ticket, at no extra cost.

Southern customer advice:

If you are travelling between Fratton and Portsmouth Harbour you will need to use an alternative route to complete your journey. Doing so will increase your travel time by up to 30 minutes.

Southern services which are due to run to Portsmouth Harbour will now start and terminate at Fratton.

Planning your journey:

You can see live departure boards, a live map of the network and 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 Southern app will also help you plan your journey.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

A points failure has been reported, and this is preventing trains from travelling from Portsmouth Harbour towards Havant.

Points are moveable sections of track which can send trains onto different routes at junctions. These are part of the signalling system, generally managed by Network Rail.

Points can stop moving correctly for a number of reasons. For example, there may be an obstruction in the moving parts, or the electronic control systems may have developed a fault.

There are various backup systems which allow signallers to try to "set" the points, and in some cases, the points may be available for trains in one of the directions they serve, but not another.

Network Rail will send their specialist Signalling & Telecoms teams to site, and they will set up a safe method of working on the track. To allow staff to access the railway, sometimes we have to stop trains completely, which can lead to trains on other routes also being held at stations or signals.

As soon as it's safe to go on the line, staff will diagnose the fault and find any quick solutions to resolve it.

Whilst this is being done, staff will be monitoring progress closely. At times, replacement parts may be needed, or specialist advice from suppliers, which is why some points failures take longer to resolve than others.

South Western Railway customer advice:

Engineers are on their way to site.

There is a signalling problem affecting some lines at Portsmouth & Southsea - this means that South Western Railway are currently unable to run trains between Portsmouth Harbour and Portsmouth & Southsea, and are only able to run towards Fratton from platforms 3 and 4 at Portsmouth & Southsea.

South Local Services:

• All lines between Portsmouth Harbour and Portsmouth & Southsea are currently blocked

• Trains starting/finishing their journeys at Portsmouth Harbour will now be cancelled or start/finish at Portsmouth & Southsea or Fratton

How do I get to my destination?

• You should allow extra time for your journey and continue to check station boards and our website for the latest service updates

• If you're travelling between Portsmouth Harbour and Hilsea, you are advised to use alternative routes if possible

Your ticket can be used, at no extra cost, on the following services:

• Southern Railway services between Fratton and London Victoria in both directions

If you need any help with your journey, please speak to a member of staff or use a station help point.

If you would prefer to use local buses to continue your journey please check Traveline. South Western Railway tickets are not valid on local buses unless stated above.

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.