Lines have reopened at Rainham (Kent): disruption expected 10:00 

Route(s) affected

Services to / from Rainham (Kent)

Description

The lines have reopened through Rainham (Kent) following a fault with the signalling system at this station. Trains running to, from, and through this station may be cancelled, delayed by up to 20 minutes, or revised whilst services return to the scheduled timetable.

Disruption is expected until 10:00.

Southeastern customer advice:

Following an earlier fault with the signalling system at Rainham, all lines have reopened. It will be necessary to take a temporary block of the line around 09:30 for some essential work to repair the damage. Normal working is expected by 10:00

How does this affect my journey?

Trains may still be delayed as Southeastern work to recover the service.

What should I do?

Please check journey planners for up to date travel information.

Alternative Routes:

For details of alternative routes that may be available to complete your journey, please refer to our Alternative routes during disruption maps.

How can I stay up to date?

More information can be found at southeasternrailway.co.uk and @Se_Railway.

Thameslink customer advice:

You may need to use an alternative route to travel and allow up to 15 minutes more time to complete your journey.

Some Thameslink services towards Rainham will terminate and restart at Rochester. Please change there for alternative Southeastern services towards Rainham, on which you can use your ticket at no extra cost.

The following stations are not being served until further notice:

• Chatham

• Gillingham (Kent)

• Rainham (Kent)

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

Planning your journey:

For help planning your journey, check live departure boards, view a live network map or see alternative route guides.

If you’re travelling within London, you can use the TfL Journey Planner.

Can you tell me more about the incident?

A points failure has been reported, and this is preventing trains from using some of the routes through this area.

Points are moveable sections of track that guide trains from one route to another at junctions. If they develop a fault, for example because something is obstructing the moving parts or there is a problem with the electronic control system, they may not move into the correct position. The signalling system may also be unable to confirm that they are safely positioned.

For safety, trains cannot travel over points unless they are correctly positioned and secured. In some cases, the points can be secured in one position, allowing trains to continue using some routes through the junction while others remain unavailable.

Network Rail signalling specialists are investigating the fault and will work to repair the affected equipment. Depending on the cause, this may involve removing an obstruction, repairing the equipment or replacing faulty parts.

Staff may sometimes need access to the track while the fault is investigated or repaired. Trains may need to be stopped for a short time while this happens, which means your train could be held at a station or signal even if its usual route through the area remains available.

Some faults can be resolved relatively quickly, while others may require replacement parts or specialist advice. This means it may not always be possible to confirm straight away how long the disruption will last.

Ticket flexibility:

If your train is cancelled, you will be able to travel on an alternative service operated by any other participating train company, either two hours before or two hours after the original departure time of the cancelled service, in order to reach your destination.

If you decide not to travel or cannot complete your journey due to cancellations, you are entitled to a full refund from your original point of sale.

For further information and guidance please contact your train company or speak to a member of railway staff.

Check before you travel:

You can check your journey using the National Rail 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.