Major disruption to Gatwick Express / Great Northern / Southern and Thameslink services until approximately 18:00 

Route(s) affected

Gatwick Express services between London Victoria and Brighton

Great Northern on various routes

Southern services between London Victoria and Bognor Regis / Brighton / Eastbourne / Hastings / Havant / Horsham / Littlehampton / Ore / Reigate, also between London Bridge and Caterham

Thameslink services between Bedford and Brighton / Gatwick Airport / Haywards Heath / Three Bridges, between Cambridge and Brighton, between Peterborough and Horsham

Description

A number of incidents are affecting Gatwick Express / Great Northern / Southern and Thameslink services today. As a result, trains may be cancelled, delayed by up to 90 minutes or revised.

A visual disruption map video is now available.

This is expected until 18:00.

Customer advice:

We strongly advise you do not travel until a later time. If you must make a journey now you will need to use an alternative route, or make your own arrangements to reach your destination.

If you are travelling now you will need to allow at least 90 minutes of extra time.

Thameslink, Southern and Gatwick Express services across the whole network have been subject to alterations, cancellations and significant delays due to a number of incidents:

• A fault with the signalling system in the Purley area is causing significant disruption to services running across the network this morning

• Additionally there has been an operational incident in the same area which has caused significantly longer delays to services

• We've also had a fault with the signalling system in the Hatfield area which has now been fixed

• A trespasser has also been reported on the line between Oxted and East Croydon.

If you are travelling to/from London Bridge or London Victoria, to the coastal routes:

Please delay your travel where possible as services are significantly disrupted this morning.

An extremely reduced service will operate on most London-coastal routes, with some services not having a train service until much later today. If your journey is essential, you will need use an alternative routes.

If you are travelling to/from Gatwick Airport:

You will need to use an alternative route for your journey. Services to/from Gatwick Airport will be significantly reduced meaning you may need to make your own arrangements for travel.

Ticket acceptance is in place with local bus services and other operators which you can make use of.

Please check before you travel this morning. If your train is affected then you may need to take an alternative service, changing trains part way through your journey, or make use of local bus services.

This is how we expect services to be affected, however this is subject to change at short notice:

• Gatwick Express services will be suspended

• Thameslink services that run between Three Bridges and Bedford (stopping services via Redhill) are suspended

• Thameslink services between Brighton and Cambridge are suspended

• Southern services that run between London Victoria and Reigate / Gatwick Airport (via Redhill) are suspended

• Southern services that run between Eastbourne and London Victoria are suspended (services that run between Ore and London Victoria will continue to run)

• Services that run between Caterham / Tatteham Corner and London Bridge will run between Caterham/Tatttenham Corner and Purley only

Other services will be subject to delays, alterations and cancellations. Some services may have cancelled stops, or will terminate and restart at a different station to normal.

Ticket acceptance:

Tickets will be accepted for no extra cost on the following:

North of London

• Southern and Thameslink services on any reasonable route, including between Brighton/the coast, Gatwick Airport and London

• Great Northern services on any reasonable route

• Greater Anglia services between London Liverpool Street, Cambridge and Ely

• London Overground services on the Weaver line from London Liverpool Street and Enfield Town, also on the Lioness line between London Euston and Watford Junction

• LNER services between Peterborough and London Kings Cross

Within London

• London Underground between London Terminals

• London Buses between Redhill and East Croydon, also between London, Potters Bar and Crews Hill

• East Midlands Railway services between London St Pancras International, Luton Airport Parkway and Bedford

• Elizabeth line services between Farringdon, London Liverpool Street and Abbey Wood

• London Tram services between Beckenham Junction, East Croydon, Mitcham Junction and Wimbledon

South of London

• Southern services on any reasonable route, including services along the West/East Coastway

• Great Western Railway services between Reigate, Redhill and Gatwick Airport

• South Western Railway services between London Waterloo, Wimbledon, Epsom, Dorking, Havant and Portsmouth Harbour

• Southeastern services on any reasonable route between London, Tonbridge and Hastings

The following Brighton & Hove bus routes:

• Regency 29, 29A, 29B, 29X between Brighton, Lewes, Uckfield, Crowborough, Eridge, and Tunbridge Wells.

• Regency 54 between Eastbourne, Polegate, and Uckfield

The following Metrobus routes:

• 3 between Gatwick Airport, Three Bridges, and Crawley

• 10 between Gatwick Airport and Crawley

• 20 between Horley, Gatwick Airport and Three Bridges

• 100 between Redhill, Earlswood, Salfords, Horley, Gatwick Airport, Crawley, and Three Bridges

• 231 for Lingfield (War Memorial), Edenbridge, Penshurst, and Tunbridge Wells

• 270 between East Grinstead, Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill, Hassocks, and Brighton

• 271 between Crawley, Haywards Heath, Wivelsfield, Burgess Hill, Hassocks, Preston Park, and Brighton

• 272 between Crawley, Three Bridges, Haywards Heath, Wivelsfield, Burgess Hill, Hassocks, Preston Park, and Brighton

• 273 between Crawley, Hassocks, Preston Park and Brighton

• 281 between Crawley, Three Bridges, East Grinstead, Dormans, and Lingfield

• 291 between Crawley, Three Bridges, East Grinstead, and Tunbridge Wells

• 400 between Caterham, Redhill, Earlswood, Salfords, Horley, Gatwick Airport, Crawley, Three Bridges

• 405 between Redhill, Merstham, Coulsdon South, Coulsdon Town, Reedham, Purley, South Croydon, and East Croydon

• 409 between Caterham, Godstone, Lingfield (War memorial), and East Grinstead

• 410 between Godstone, Hurst Green, Oxted, Nutfield (High Street), and Redhill

• 420 between Tattenham, Tadworth, Lower Kingswood, Reigate, Redhill, Earlswood, Salfords, Gatwick Airport, and Crawley

• 430 / 435 between Redhill, Reigate, Earlswood, and Merstham

• 460 between Tattenham, Tadworth, Lower Kingswood, Reigate, Redhill, Earlswood, Salfords, Horley, Gatwick Airport, and Crawley

• 411 between Merstham, Redhill, and Reigate

• 424 for Reigate, Redhill, Horley, Crawley

Planning your journey:

You can see the live departure boards, and view a live map of the network.

You can also view 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.

You can use the Gatwick Express, Southern and Thameslink apps to find up-to-date information.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

Trains travelling through the Purley area are experiencing delays, alterations and cancellations due to a signal fault.

Railway signals warn drivers when they need to stop. Normally, a green light means the track is clear, while yellow signals warn of a red light ahead.

Signalling works on "fail-safe" principles. If a signal cannot change properly, it defaults to a more restrictive setting, causing trains to slow down even if the track is clear.

Network Rail maintains the system, and Southern, Thames and Gatwick Express are working with them to fix the fault as quickly as possible. In the meantime, we are monitoring services and doing our best to keep to the timetable.

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.